Wario Land: Shake It!

Wario Land: Shake It!
Developer: Good-Feel
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: Wii
System Played On: Wii U
Rating: 3 stars 

On September 3, 2025, I defeated the Shake King, thus finishing Wario Land: Shake It for the Nintendo Wii (played via the background compatibility of my Wii U). In my playthrough, I collected 74% stages, 43% treasures and 11% missions. And I did it all in 10 2/3 gameplay hours over a span of a little over about 2 months. 

Wario Land: Shake It deserves all the praise it has received for it aesthetic. Wario Land: Shake It decided to go with an anime art style, and it's beautiful, gorgeous enough to rival a Studio Ghibli film. Even more impressive, Wario Land: Shake It uses its anime art style in both cutscenes and in gameplay, and the game smoothly transitions between the two of them. Even current gen consoles using photorealistic graphics in both their cutscenes and gameplay still have jarring noticeable differences between cutscenes and gameplay, yet a 7th gen console (and the Wii, as opposed to the PS3 or Xbox360, nonetheless!) using an anime art style can somehow do it. Seriously, this game is so stunning visually, that I sometimes forgot I was playing a video game, and I thought I was watching an anime movie or television show. For that alone, I would recommend this game to any otaku or weeb!

Although not praised as much yet still praised a lot, Wario Land: Shake It deserves all the praise it has received for its soundtrack. Seriously, I haven't hear so much music genre variety since Paper Mario: Color Splash (yeah, I know Paper Mario: Color Splash came after Wario Land: Shake It, but that's not the order I played them)! Furthermore, all the songs on the soundtrack are well orchestrated, instead of relying on some kind of computer synthesizer. My only complaint about the soundtrack is that the music did not always match the theme of the level, but unless actively listening for that incompatibility, nobody will notice. I personally did not notice until other reviews brought it up to me.

Not receiving praise yet it should, Wario Land: Shake It deserves praise for its screen use. See, Wario Land: Shake It came out in 2008, a year in which media outlets and consumers alike transitioned from the 4:3 ratio CRTVs to 16:9 ratio HDTVs. Video game designers, not knowing which TV their consumers owned, had to somehow account for owners of both types of televisions. Some developers would simply make the game only in the 4:3 ratio, leaving gamers on a 16:9 ratio HDTV with black void columns to the left and to the right (see WarioWare: Smooth Moves, for example). Likewise, some designers would add a static border, which is just a step up from the black void. Other developers would simply stretch out a 4:3 ratio to a 16:9 ratio for those using HDTVs, but that would distort the picture. Other designers would extend the visable screen for those using HDTVs, but with a game primarily made with the 4:3 ratio of CRTVs in mind, seeing extra screen adds little to no benefit to gameplay. Wario Land: Shake It solves this problem in an interesting way. The developers designed the game in 4:3 ratio for gamers still gaming on a CRTV, but for the players playing on the 16:9 ratio of HDTV, to the left and the right of the gameplay screen are borders that keep track of treasures and missions. Again, those gaming on 4:3 CRTVs miss out on nothing, and those playing on 16:9 HDTVs gain an additional benefit of a treasures and missions tracker. I thought this was pretty cool! I'm surprised more games of the time period did not do this.

Of course, as a Wii game, Wario Land: Shake It has motion controls. I have nothing against motion controls. I do not object to them at all. As a matter of fact, I firmly believe that motion controls have a crucial role in reaching true virtual reality. My only critique of motion controls, however, lies on the fact that motion control matches the motion made in real life. Following this simple principle explains why Wii Sports became such a success (outside its pack-in status with the Wii). Wii Tennis feels like swinging a tennis racket, Wii Golf feels like swinging a golf club, Wii Bowling feels like rolling a bowling ball, Wii Baseball feels like pitching & hitting, and Wii Boxing feels like throwing a punch (OK, sometimes it feels like slapping). Motion controls should never merely substitute a button press. Wario Land: Shake It is so inconsistent on this. I can comprehend shaking the Wiimote is like shaking money out of a bag. I can understanding slamming down the Wiimote to simulate punching the ground. Shaking the Wiimote to get Wario to swing on a bar does not compute. Tilting the Wiimote to change the angle of a cannon or to get a bucket car to move along the track does not make sense either (I don't equate this to tilting a joystick or leaning the body).

As with most video games (open world video games as the exception), Wario Land: Shake It progressively unveils the map. Wario Land: Shake It takes revealing the map in an interesting way. After beating each boss, Wario goes back to the Pirate Shop on Captain Syrup's ship the Sweet Stuff to find a map of the next continent available. The game never provides an explanation for this. The game never claims that defeating the boss lifted some kind of fog covering the land. The game doesn't even try to convince that Captain Syrup just so happens to find a lost map piece by accident at the same exact time Wario defeated the boss. The map piece just ends up there. Without a game explanation, it leave anyone wondering why the Pirate Shop couldn't have all the continent maps immediately available. It would not have taken that much effort to make up an in-game explanation. Of course, since these maps come from a Pirate Shop, they cost in-game currency to obtain. Naturally, the price increases as the game progresses. As a result, advancing in the game can come to a halt if failing to collect enough in-game currency. In turn, this can create unnecessary padding, forcing backtracking to replay level previously tread, just to collect more currency. Fortunately for me, I ended up 100% fully completing the first few levels (collecting all treasures and missions) just in the attempt to collect more currency to purchase the next continent map. If the developers had this in mind, good for them. If the designers did not intend for this, then they have created an example of unnecessary padding. Speaking of the map, my gameplay progress revealed that I uncovered 74% of the stages. That's because some of the levels had secret, hidden maps, which need to be discovered in the level. If playing a repeat playthrough after beating the final boss, the ground will sparkle where the secret map is buried. If playing the level for the first time, no such indicator exists, despite the fact the gamer can still dig up the hidden map if discovering, even if with some help (like a walkthrough). It was totally unnecessary to keep these maps so secret and hidden with no indicators on the first playthrough and then to give hints on repeat playthroughs. Make the hints available immediately, and then make the challenge reaching said map.

Yes, Captain Syrup makes her return for the first time since Wario Land II, and she fits in exactly where she left off as a character. She steals, she kidnaps, she deceives, she overcharges and she flirts, all in the name of making more money and getting richer. Her return never felt like a shoe-in for the sake of invoking feelings of nostalgia. She returned for the sake of fulfilling a role that fit her character, which I can appreciate. (Speaking of Captain Syrup, make I make sidebar here? Common video game knowledge will reveal that Waluigi came in existence for the sake of creating Wario a partner for sports game that played doubles, like tennis. Waluigi does indeed work as a Wario version of Luigi, but it begs the question, "Why wasn't Captain Syrup Wario's doubles partner?" After all, Captain Syrup is just a female version of Wario. It would have been nice to have Captain Syrup be Wario's doubles partner, for it would have been the first mixed gender partners.)

[SPOILER ALERT!!] The final boss the Shake King (probably a wordplay on Viking) had me intrigued at first, but then it lost my interest. At first, the Shake King attacks with a dash attack, a earthquake punch and fireballs. Minus the fireballs, the Shake King shares the same attacks as Wario, so the final boss battle at first feels like an equal and fair match between Wario and the Shake King to determine who can utilize the attacks the best. The Shake King's second phase has the same or similar attacks, just more of them, so it feels like an expected and necessary harder test. For the third and final phase, however, the Shake King starts pulling out magic that has never occurred in the entirety of the game. Some of these attacks cane one-hit KO Wario or close to it. This felt so unfair. Final boss battles should feel like a final test on how to utilize all controls and attacks. I had no way to prepare for this final boss battle. The best way way to prepare was to fight the Shake King over and over again. Doing so made phase 1 and 2 quite boring, for the gamer will learn the patterns so well, to the point of delivering all the damage while taking no damage. After all, Wario will need all the life he can get for those final phase attacks! Speaking of which, the game does allow the player to purchase a health potion at the Pirate Shop, which will automatically refill the health bar once all health runs out in battle. Actually, Wario has health potions at his disposal throughout the whole game, but not until the final boss battle does health potions feel absolutely necessary because of the unfairness of the final boss battle. Of course, health potions coming from the Pirate Shop means that they cost in-game currency. If the gamer does not have enough, it will require backtracking to previous levels to earn more currency. Let's say the player earns enough money, purchases a health potion, fights the Shake King, and then loses the final boss battle. The gamer will not get the health potion back. The player must buy another one. If Wario does not have enough money, back to grinding for coins in the prior levels! While this system rewards those who learn the Shake King's patterns, this is not fun. It should have stayed a fair fight between Wario and the Shake King over who knew and utilized the attacks the best, like in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (ironically) [/END SPOILERS]

In conclusion, Wario Land: Shake It is another Wario Land game that once again zooms in and focuses too much on the gimmick of its original system, which in this case, is the motion controls of the Wii. The problem with such a heavy reliance on the gimmick of the Wii's motion controls lies within the disconnect between the motion control input and the action the motion controls should represent. It is such a shame, for the game has a great music soundtrack, great art style and great screen use. Not only do motion controls mar the game's great points, questionable gameplay mechanics and a final boss battle somewhere between unfair and not fun further mar the game's great points. All in all, the highs match the lows, leaving a game somewhere between average and mediocre. That too is a shame because Wario Land: Shake It trends the Wario Land series in an upward direction. True, Wario Land: Shake It does not return the Wario Land series to the glory days of the first 4 games, especially in comparison to Wario Land 4. Wario Land: Shake It, however, does find a way to zoom in and focus on the original system's gimmick yet incorporate the elements that made Wario Land fans fall in love with Wario Land in the first place. This series looked like it could improved to its former glory days, yet Nintendo decided to cut it off, with its last entry on the Wii. That also a shame. As the Switch 1 came to the end of its life to make way for the Switch 2, the Wario Land series was one of the few franchises left untouched by the Switch 1. A Switch Wario Land game that returned to the gameplay mechanics of Wario Land 4 and incorporated elements unique to the Switch hardware would have been loved by Wario Land fans specifically and Nintendo fans in general. Unfortunately, it never came to be, but then again, maybe for good reason. Wario did continue on from the Wii in the form of WarioWare, with a Wii U game, a 3DS game and 2 Switch 1 games. In the long run and in the bigger picture, the Wario Land game really did not do that much to differentiate or to distinguish itself from the Super Mario series. Heck, some of those elements intended to make Wario Land games unique now do appear in Super Mario games. The microgames of the WarioWare games, however, do differ from the minigames of the Mario Party games. Therefore, maybe Wario does fit better as the mascot of the WarioWare microgames series than as the mascot for Wario Land platforming games. Thus, I am glad that the Wario Land series ended, and I am happy to know it ended on a more optimistic note than Wario World or Wario: Master of Disguise. I will always look forward to the next WarioWare installment, but I will also fondly reminisce on the nostalgia of a Wario Land game.

Final Ranking
1. Wario Land 4
2. Wario Land 3
3. Wario Land II
4. Wario Land (1)
5. Wario Land: Shake It!
6. Wario World
7. Wario: Master of Disguise

Wario: Master of Disguise

Wario: Master of Disguise
Developer: Suzak
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: DS
System Played On: Wii U (Virtual Console)
Rating: 1 star 

On July 3, 2025, I defeated Terrormisu, thus finishing Wario Master of Disguise for the Nintendo DS (via the Wii U Virtual Console). My playthrough consisted of both the 10 episodes of the story and the 5 special episode time trials (remember this, this will become important later on). In my playthrough, I earned $580,258 in money and treasures, which earned me the title of "Paragon of Disguise," the third highest title in the game. And I did it all in 24 9/10 gameplay hours in 45 gameplay sessions, averaging 33 minutes 12 second per gameplay session, over the span of 3 months. Let me review this game in order of when the things needing critique appear.

Obviously, the story sets the premise of the game. A bored Wario is watching a television show about a master thief named Count Cannoli, who has entitled himself the Silver Zepher. Jealous of Count Cannoli's wealth, Wario invents the Telmet (portmantua of television helmet) to put himself in the television. Now the good guy of the show becomes the bad guy, the bad guy of the show becomes the worse guy, and the worse guy of the show becomes the worst guy. At least it's not predictable in the sense that the TV show's bad guy sees Wario as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" or that the plot twist is the bad good is really the good guy and the good guy is really the bad guy. Still, the plot of this game felt predictable. The one thing I could appreciate about the antagonists, though, is that one is a caricature of Mario and another is a caricature of Peach. Very fitting for a Wario game.

As if the plot itself is not bad enough, what makes it worse is that the plot is developed over long discourses of information dump. This becomes most evident when dying multiple times to a boss and having to sit through long dialogues to just face off against the boss again. This got so bad that, while the game provides plenty of fair save points, rendering the Wii U Virtual Console restore points useless, I used them just so I wouldn't have to re-read the long dialogues again! Yes, the press of a button or the tap of the screen will make text move with more speed, but I wouldn't call it a fast forward. Yes, I get the developers were trying to communicate, "Look how witty all these thieves are!" but I never found it entertaining. It doesn't matter if you're into books, movies, television or video games, anyone writing for those mediums will tell you long exposition dumps is bad storytelling. Therefore, Wario: Master of Disguise has bad storytelling.

After a long introductory dialogue dumping some exposition, the gamer finally takes control of Wario. If you belong to the 90% of right-handed people, you will move Wario left and right with the left and right of the D-pad, you will crouch with down on the D-pad, and you will jump and ascend ladders/stairs with the up on the D-pad. Everything else will be controlled with the DS touchscreen stylus your right hand. Don't worry if you're the 10% that's left-handed. Left is Y, right is A, crouch is B, and jump/ascend is X. As if Suzak remembering the lefties is cool enough, even more awesome is that you can use both for movement. For example, if you wanted to jump from left to right, Nintendo expected the player to press right/A and up/X at the same time. The game, however, allows the gamer to press right and X at the same time for the same results. I used this option plenty. Sadly, however, all the other controls have to be done with the touchscreen. It's not as bad as Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, in which even the movement of Link was controlled by the touchscreen, but it's up there. To perform any attack, the gamer has to tap the enemy. Of course, the player has to first position Wario in close proximity of the enemy for the attack to work, but it still comes down to switching from button controls to touchscreen controls, which can easily be confused, as we will see as this review progresses.

The touchscreen issues become most apparent with the disguises. Of course, it can't be a Wario Land game (yes, I know it technically doesn't have "land" in the title, but most people put any Wario platforming game under the subcategory of "Wario Land") without transformation. Wario: Master of Disguise has 8 disguises Wario can transform into: Thief Wario, Cosmic Wario, Artsy Wario, Genius Wario, Sparky Wario, Captain Wario, Dragon Wario and Wicked Wario. For each transformation, the gamer has to draw a certain shape over Wario: checks for Thief Wario, circle for Cosmic Wario (to represent a space helmet), square/rectangle for Artsy Wario (to represent an easel), a magnifying glass for Genius Wario (looked more like a Greek letter to me), a lightning bolt for Sparky Wario, a semicircle for Captain Wario (I'm guessing a boat hull?), a less than sign for Dragon Wario (like a dragon tail) and a triangle for Wicked Wario (like bat wings). The mnemonic devices makes recalling the symbol for the transformation easy. I can't complain. What I can complain about is the game struggle to recognize these symbols. Constantly the game confused the circle for Cosmic Wario and the rectangle/square for Artsy Wario. Too often the game confused the dragon tail drawing for Dragon Wario with the triangle wing drawing for Wicked Wario. This becomes a problem throughout the  game, especially in the timed special levels, when the game expects the player to transform Wario on demand, yet he or she cannot because the game can't recognize the correct symbol. As if drawing to change costumes isn't bad enough, remember that a lot of these attacks require the gamer to draw on the screen more, which the game further cannot recognize. The worst offender is Artsy Wario. The game almost expect perfect squares to create blocks. One cool thing about this game's transformations is that some can level up to give more powers to the disguise. Cosmic Wario's space gun can ricochet. Artsy Wario can draw more blocks and draw hearts for healing. Genius Wario can punch. Captain Wario can dive with a submarine. Dragon Wario's fire breath can become hotter, destroying blue fire blocks. OK, that last one is lame, for it's just an excuse to create new temporary roadblocks. Lamer is Cosmic Wario's ricochet gun, for the lasers never ricochet where the players wants them to go. Lamest is Artsy Wario. Again, the game has a hard time recognizing the draw of a heart shape, whether big, small, skinny or fat. Even if the player can master drawing a recognizable heart, you can't do it with enemies on screen. Don't even dare during a boss battle (it's like the developers didn't want you to heal during boss battles).

These disguises can be found in treasure chests. Treasure chests hold everything from disguises to keys to money to treasure, depending on its color. All treasure chests are locked. To unlock a treasure chest, you have to play a microgame. Yes, a microgame. By this time, Nintendo has published 5 WarioWare games over the span of 7 years. Wario: Master of Disguise become a game that attempts to combine both Wario Land and WarioWare. There are 8 different microgames, which include connecting dots, tracing drawings, coloring in pictures, matching items with receptacles, squishing roaches, drawing a path and sliding puzzles. A cool thing is that these puzzles do level up, becoming progressively harder once the gamer has become a master expert in the easy puzzles. An uncool thing is that the higher-level puzzles become so hard to the point of becoming impossible. If the player ever fails a microgame, easy or hard, the game boots Wario back out with bombs. Wario must dodge the bombs and re-enter the treasure chest and do another random minigame. This becomes an even bigger pain for the special levels, when everything is on the clock, including the microgame! Yes, the clock continues to run on the microgame. The only fortunate relief is that if the clock expires on the microgame, and the gamer can successfully solve the microgame, the clock will reset. If the player gets stuck with a microgame that is not his or her strength, the player might as well reset the speedrun. If just playing just the 10 episodes of the story, the gamer will find himself or herself ranking puzzles by ease and difficulty, and then purposely losing some microgames in order to get the more favorable microgames. This isn't good game design.

I'll at least give the game credit on the level designs. It could have been way too easy to fall into the Super Mario trap of doing just a basic, generic grass level, desert level, ice level, water level, jungle level, sky level and volcano level. Instead, levels include a cruise ship, a museum, a pyramid, waterworks, a volcano (OK, that one is repeated, but it's taken a new direction with an under-lava experience!), a haunted castle and an ancient garden. As creative and original as these level settings are, they all have flaws. The museum, on the surface, looks creative with puzzles that can be solved with hints in exhibits, but the hints are way to cryptic. The volcano level depends on finding a heat-resistant suit every now and then, and they are hidden, so Wario can die just looking for one. The ancient garden teases the gamer by making it look like all the treasures chests needed to reach the final boss are nearby, but it instead has Wario travel the farthest. These are all flaws that ruin the creative atmosphere.

Most, if not all, episodes end on a boss. The bosses are interesting, and not in a good way. The boss itself gives no hint on a weak spot to defeat said boss. Instead, Goodstyle, Wario's magic wand, provides hints by telling Wario what disguise is necessary to defeat the boss, or at least this certain phase of the boss. This creates a dualist dilemma. Pay attention to Goodstyle's hints, and the boss is too easy. Don't pay attention Goodstyle's hints, and the boss is too hard because the gamer has no idea how to defeat him. I wish there was an option to turn his hints on and off, but I don't think that will solve anything.

Do yourselves a favor. Don't play Wario: Master of Disguise. Instead, watch Dana Carvey's family-friendly comedy Master of Disguise. You'll have a much better time.

Running Ranking
1. Wario Land 4
2. Wario Land 3
3. Wario Land II
4. Wario Land (1)
5. Wario World
6. Wario: Master of Disguise 

Wario World

Wario World
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: GameCube
System Played On: GameCube
Rating: 2 1/2 stars 

On April 1 (no joke), I defeated the Black Jewel, thus finishing Wario World on the Nintendo GameCube! In my playthrough, I collected 51 of 64 treasures, all 40 spritelings, and 7 1/2 of 8 hearts. And I did it all in 11 9/10 gameplay hours over a span of 29 days (a little under a month), averaging 24 3/5 minutes per gameplay session.

I mention the average gameplay session time length because the first thing that stuck out to me was how long it took me to beat a level. Before I talk in depth about that, let me mention that there is only technically 4 worlds with 3 levels, 2 of those levels are 3D platforming collectathons and 1 level is solely a boss battle. 12 levels does not seem like a lot, but considering each level takes 25 minutes (rounded up), now it seems like a lot. Boss battle levels take 25 minutes because the boss has a much health as you, so it's an equal matchup right from the start. 3D platforming collectathon levels take 25 minutes because the levels are massive in size, and they have a lot to do. So what's all there to do in a level?

First, there is treasure collecting. Each 3D platforming collectathon level has 8 treasures in it. In order to collect said treasure, the gamer must press the color button, and then find the corresponding color platform. Collecting all treasures in a platform unlock a microgame from the first WarioWare game, as long as the player has a Game Boy Advance and the link cable. Gamers missing 1 or the other will find this reward useless, and even if the player has both, he or she might just have that WarioWare game, rending the reward even more useless. I at least appreciated that some of the treasures were Nintendo's past and present systems.

Second, there is spriteling collection. Each 3D platforming collectathon level has 5 spritelings, locked away by the Black Jewel for imprisoning the Black Jewel in the first place. At first, this spritelings seem to merely serve the purpose of tutorials and hints, however, they actually impact the ending of the game. The more spritelings Wario saves, the fancier the castle at the end of the credits. Collect all 40 spritelings, and Wario has more treasures than he started. Looking up a solution for another problem, I noticed I already had 36 of 40 spritelings. Therefore, I took the time to find the last four before taking on the end boss. I'm not sure if the ending was worth it, though.

Third, there is red crystal collection. Red crystals unlock the 3D platforming collectathon's boss battle. Each 3D platforming collectathon level has 8 red crystals. Earlier levels on require 3 red crystals, but later levels will require 6. These red crystals are behind trap doors. Sometimes, a simple ground pound/hip drop will break open the trap door, while at other times, only a Piledriver will open the trap door. The trap doors requiring a simple ground pound/hip drop leads to levels similar to Toad's Treasure Tracker. Use the C-stick to navigate through the puzzle to reach the red crystal. The trap doors needing the piledriver lead to levels that remind me of the Super Mario Sunshine levels without FLUUD. Except this time the Wario Land episodes are more doable. Both levels were a nice changeup from the regular gameplay of scouring the level to look for treasures.

Fourth, there is gold statue parts. Each 3D platforming collectathon level has 8 gold statue pieces. Collecting all 8 will earn Wario a half heart, with the hearts maxing out at 8. This power up probably has the most in-game use, as the bosses will level up as the game advances. I got 7 1/2 hearts because I came up short 3 pieces in the last level, which had already given much such a headache just trying to find the end boss. If any gamer chooses just to collection 1 collectable, that gamer better make sure he or she has hearts as the collectable.

Fifth, there are coins to collect, but just like with Treasures, they seem to have little or no value to the after credits scene. The only thing the coins do is allow for extra continues, which also ramps up, maxing out at 500 coins. I ran out of coins nears the final boss battles, so I could not continue. Speaking of coins, Wario does not have the same immortality or transformations as prior games, so if a player falls off a ledge, that player needs to find the box with the hidden spring to launch back into the level. Also, poisonous water exists all around the underworld, which sucks out the hard-earning coins. No joke, on one occasion, I lost 1000+ coins in that underworld. This was more boring and tedious than creative and innovative.  I wish it was axed.

[SPOILER ALERT!] After clearing all 12 levels, the big treasure chest north of the island pops open, revealing Black Jewel. The Black Jewel has 8 lives, rewarding the gamers who took the time to increase their hearts to 8, making it an even fight. Those gamers who did not end are going to find themselves going for an almost perfect run. Here in North America, the Black Jewel only has 1 cycle. The attacks may increase in speed with every passing cycle, but besides that, once the pattern is down, it's smooth sailing to the finish. Japan, on the other end, got more a true boss fight, with the Black Jewel taking center stage in the fight, fighting head on. Man, I wish we got the Japan version [/END SPOILERS!]

In conclusion, I have mixed feelings about Wario World. When on the handheld systems, the Wario Land games naturally progressed from copying Super Mario to becoming its own thing. Besides making the move to 3D, Wario World doesn't seem to go beyond that. No Metroidvania-like traveling. No power-ups besides garlic to give an extra power to Wario. No cutscenes at the beginning or end (instead, the game provides static text and flashes of images). Furthermore, the controls feel off, which makes me doubt if the developers had any experience with platforming games, especially 3D platforming games. The poor lighting made it hard to see ladders. Therefore, with all that in mind, I give Wario World a ranking of 2 1/2 stars. It's somewhere between a bad game and an average game. I would play this game until you get sick and tired of finicky 3D platforming and tedious collecting, and then watch a Let's Play of the rest.

Hey, at least it can't get any worse than this, right? Right?! RIGHT!?! It's going to get worse, isn't it? 

Running Ranking
1. Wario Land 4
2. Wario Land 3
3. Wario Land 2
4. Wario Land 1
5. Wario World 

Wario Land 4

Wario Land 4
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: Game Boy Advance
System Played On: Wii U (Virtual Console)
Rating: 5 stars 

On March 3, 2025, I defeated the Golden Diva, and earned the best ending on normal, thus finishing Wario Land 4 for the Game Boy Advance (via the Wii U Virtual Console)! In my playthrough, I collected 8 of 16 music tracks (that's half of them!), and I earned $130,270. And I did it all in 10 1/2 gameplay hours over the span of 17 days.

Wario Land 4 clearly has a primarily, secondary and tertiary gameplay loop built into each level. Let's break that down.

The primary gameplay loop is to find the switch in each level, which reopens the portal, allowing Wario to exit. Upon hitting said switch, a timer triggers, and Wario must race back to the portal at the beginning of the level. Yes, Wario Land 4 reintroduces the level timer, and they do so perfectly. The timer does not go off until the switch to trigger the exit becomes activated. Therefore, the game safely assumes that the gamer has explored everything, and he or she only desires to exit the level. Prior to hitting the switch, the player has no time limit, meaning the player can patiently explore the level. Only until the gamer wants to exit that the timer appears. Again, it's that perfect balance of exploring to find collectables and testing the player to see how well he or she knows the level. Yes, sometimes Wario Land 4 change up the level on the return, and yes, the game sometimes places collectables along the return road, but the timer accounts for that, adding more time. Still, even so, a seasoned veteran of video gamers could beat the clock in its own race with time to spare.

The secondary gameplay loop is finding Keyser. See, activating the switch and returning to the portal merely helps Wario escape the level with treasures intact. To actually advance to the next level, the gamer needs to discover Keyser in the level and collect Keyser before exiting the level. Most often, Keyser appears before switch in the level, but sometimes Keyser can show up after the switch activates. Again, the timer accounts for this, giving more time to find a hidden key. To me, this secondary gameplay loop is redundant. Getting out of the level feels like it should come with automatic advancement in the game. Nothing felt more disappointing than making it back to the exit portal, only to then witness the door not opening because the door. Keyser should have come automatically with activating the swtich, or at least come close nearby in every level.

The tertiary gameplay loop is finding the 4 pieces of a jewel. Once all 4 pieces come together, they form a jewel. 4 jewels unlock the door to that boss. Finding these jewels take a little bit more exploration, at least departing from the main path. At first, I thought I would have to a walkthrough for the missing jewel pieces. Upon a second playthrough of the levels, though, I easily saw the spaces I missed within the level, which made me in turn easily find the missing jewel pieces. I guess this is natural progression of how to maneuver Wario and how to navigate the level.

The bosses are really the lowest and weakest point of Wario Land 4. Most of the bosses have hard to see weak points. When the gamer can find these weak points, the bosses have small hit boxes, making  it hard to give and receive blows. On top of that, these bosses are damage sponges. I would have to say that, on average, a boss takes about 12 hits before defeating that boss. Did I also mention that these too are timed? I imagine the high hit count intended to combat the minigame rewards. See, Wario Land 4 has 3 minigames installed in it. These minigames could be the predecessors to WarioWare's microgames. Every time that the gamer reaches a milestone in the minigame, the game rewards that players with a token, which can be spent in the item store. While all items have funky names, they also all deal damage to the boss before Wario can engage in battle. Depending on the boss, some items do more damage, and some do less. I tried doing it item free, but I got too irritated at small hitboxes and damage sponging. Therefore, I grinded in the minigames to save up to enough tokens to buy an item at the item shop for Aerodent and Golden Diva. Since Golden Diva is the final boss, even the best item will only deliver half the damage. For the other bosses, however, the right item will deal all but 1 life in the health bar. It feels like cheating, but it also feels like you have no other choice when it feels like the bosses have an unfair advantage.

[SPOILER ALERT!] The end game is a well-done end game. It may be only 1 level before the final boss, but it's a good example of what an end level should look like. The level tests you on everything the gamer has learned to this point, for the player will need to know it to advance in this level and onward to the next level. On top of that, the developers put the switch for the time right below the portal, forcing the players to fall on it and trigger it immediately. Therefore, on top of the gamers proving they know everything about traversing levels, the gamers also have to prove they can do it with time constraints. The final boss follows the same pattern, as each one of the phases reflects back to a previous boss. Think of it as a boss gauntlet, just summed up in a single final boss. [/END SPOILERS]

While Wario Land 4 looks and feels more like Wario Land 1 and 2 than Wario Land 3, this observation should not be mistaken for a setback. On the contrary, Nintendo figured out a way to utilize the full potential of the Game Boy Advance hardware at launch to deliver a unique gameplay experience. Wario Land 4 reintroduces the timer, as well as adds a life bar, but it does so in a way that still encourages exploration. The addition of the life bar also does a better job of encouraging not taking a hit, for it could lead to a loss of company power. Wario finally has his iconic color palette of canary yellow and light purple, unlike the black and white on the Game Boy Color. The soundtrack, as well as the unlockable soundtracks, match the goofiness of Wario. The theming of the levels does not default to the typical themes found in the Super Mario series (grass land, desert land, water land, ice land, sky land, volcano land, etc.), minus emerald passage. As I play more games in the Wario Land series, and as I hear what other people have to say about these games, I would say these games grow on me with every passing game, instead of distract me. Wario Land 4 is a masterclass of how to do game development correctly, especially in the game mechanics department, as evident in the clear primary, secondary and tertiary gameplay loop naturally built into the game. The delayed and trigger timer allow the gamer the opportunity to explore the level, yet at the same time, it tests the player to see if they know how to traverse the level well. With proper exploration of the level, the game will easily find the switch, Keyser and the jewel pieces, and the player will never have to consult outside help, like a walkthrough. With this masterclass of game design, no wonder so many clones have popped up, like Pizza Tower! Therefore, for all these reasons, I give Wario Land 4 a ranking of 5 stars. Wario Land 4 is very good game, not just for the Wario Land series or a Wario game in general, but for all video games in general. If you can, I would 100% fully complete the game with the best ending on all difficulties.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, Wario Land 4 for will be the height of the Wario Land series. Every other game from here out will focus too much on the gimmick of its console and forgot this masterclass on game design. From here out on out, it will be a competition to just not end up on the bottom.

Running Ranking
1. Wario Land 4
2. Wario Land 3
3. Wario Land 2
4. Wario Land 1 

Wario Land 3

Wario Land 3
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: Game Boy Color
System Played On: 3DS (Virtual Console)
Rating: 4 1/2 stars 

On February 15, 2025, I defeated the Hidden Figure, thus finishing Wario Land 3 for the Game Boy Color (via the 3DS Virtual Console)! This is the 3rd Wario Land game I have finished. And I did it in 14 3/5 gameplay hours in a span of about 2 weeks / half of a month.

I actually do have some prior experience with Wario Land 3. Sometime during childhood, shortly after getting my Game Boy Color, for either birthday or Christmas, I asked my parents for any Game Boy Color game, just to merely increase my library of Game Boy Color games. Randomly, they got me Wario Land 3. I remember playing the game, and I also remember never finishing it. I remember getting stuck, and with the internet still young and video game walkthrough websites still new, I couldn't find the answer online, so I gave up on the game. This is why, when it came time to sell my Game Boy Color to buy a Game Boy Advance, I included Wario Land 3 as a package deal. Replaying this game as an adult, my childhood frustration of getting lost and getting stuck is still warranted. The only in-game hint system is the temple, in which the Hidden Figure will tell you where to go, and that's it. It tells you neither which color key/chest to go after nor which power up you will need to get there nor were exactly that color key/chest is. While this hint system prevents anybody from becoming lost on where to go, it does not prevent getting lost once there. Luckily for me playing this game again as an adult in 2025, I found a very thorough walkthrough on GameFAQs, which I had to consult plenty, especially near the end of the game. I can't imagine how anyone can get through the game without it.

I wasn't expecting Wario Land 3 to belong to the "Metroidvania" genre. Yes, Wario Land 3 belongs to the Metroidvania genre. The entire game takes place in 1 world. Certain areas of the world map unlock depending on which treasures become unlocked. Certain areas within each level become unlocked by discovering treasure that give certain power ups. This requires a lot of backtracking to older levels, as now certain power ups allow Wario to travel to previously unreachable areas in the level. It was very interesting starting out a Wario Land game with a Wario who did not have all the abilities that he did in Wario Land 1 & 2 from the onset. Once near the end of the game, however, Wario does have all those abilities, and it once again feels natural controlling Wario.

Once again, Wario in Wario Land 3 does not have power ups like a traditional Super Mario game does. At best, Wario regains his abilities by collecting certain treasures, but that's about it. The next closest thing is that certain enemies give Wario status changes, almost like a "power down." In Wario Land 2, these power downs were implemented well, as most often, Wario needed these power downs to access certain parts of an area. While still happens in Wario Land 3, it happens a whole lot less. More often, these power downs become more of annoyance or an inconvenience, as they drag Wario away from where he needs to be. Therefore, I would say that the power downs in Wario Land 3 are done poorly, especially in light of Wario Land 2, where they are done well.

Once again, Wario Land 3 takes an alternative route when it comes to boss battles. Unlike a traditional Super Mario game, Wario cannot lose a life or get a game over in a boss battle (minus the final boss battle). Instead, Wario simply gets booted out of the boss area and has to go back to the boss area to start all over again. Between finishing Wario Land 2 and playing Wario Land 3, I watched a YouTube video which explained why this fits his character as originally a bad guy, and I have to say, I've come to like this way. Nintendo must have received complaints about how long it takes to get back to the boss area, though, for Nintendo fixed that with Wario Land 3. Wario Land 3 has a whole lot of shorter paths to return to the boss battle than Wario Land 2. Still, I would still prefer if the boss battle would allow me to pick up where I left off instead of having to begin the whole ordeal all over again.

You may have noticed I didn't record my progress toward completion. The game really doesn't do a good job of it, especially in comparison to prior games in the series, i.e. no completion percentage after the credits. As a matter of fact, one of the treasures to collect in the game is a magnifying glass, which lets the gamer know which treasures have already been collected without entering the level. Same goes for the music box coins, the other collectable in the game. While I know I collected all 4 treasures in multiple levels, only 1 level I collected all 8 of its music box coins. If previous games could let the player know the completion percentage, then so could this game. I could tell you, however, the game's coin counter maxes out at 999, for I did that a couple of times, including by the end of the game.

Wario Land 3 also has a minigame of minigolf. It does the typical golf video game gameplay, with a meter for both power and accuracy. Personally, I found it hard to control. I felt like the best strategy was to just it the ball as powerfully and accurately as possible and then hope for the best. The courses come up randomly, and it does cost money to play, but finding money becomes quite easy, so it's nothing to fret spending all this money.

In conclusion, to sum everything up, Nintendo continues to experiment on what makes a Wario Land game unique, distinct from a Super Mario game. The first game of the franchise was very linear. The second game of the series experimented with a branching narrative. The only way to go up from branching story was naturally a Metroidvania, which was exactly what Nintendo did. The Metroidvania genre makes Wario Land 3 feel fresh from the rest of the games in the franchise. At first, not having all of Wario's abilities expected from earlier games in the series feels quite frustrating for the seasoned veteran of Wario Land games. As the game progresses, however, the limitation allows and invites the gamer to experiment how to reach goals with said limitations. Despite the lack of game overs due to Wario's inability to die, the game finds way to annoy and frustrate the player to discourage the player from powering through the levels. While overall Wario Land 2 did a better job of the enemies powering down Wario, the power downs in Wario Land 3 further reinforce avoiding enemies, despite the fact Wario can't die. With all this in mind, I therefore give Wario Land 3 4 1/2 stars. It's somewhere between a good game and a very good game. I would play this game until you finish it, and if you liked it well enough, then fully complete it, but do not feel obligated to do so.

Running Ranking
1. Wario Land 3
2. Wario Land 2
3. Wario Land 1 

Wario Land II

Wario Land II
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: Game Boy Color
System Played On: 3DS (Virtual Console)
Rating: 4 stars 

On February 1, 2025 I got all 5 endings, thus finishing Wario Land II for the Game Boy Color (via the 3DS Virtual Console)! This is the 2nd Wario game that I have finished. In my playthrough, I collected 54% of the treasures and 78% of the picture panels, as well as cleared 100% of the stages. And I did it all in 15 1/4 gameplay hours over the span of 21 days / 3 weeks / 2/3 a month. To change things up, and for the fun of it, I will make my comments with a plus (+) signifying a positive and a minus (-) signifying a negative. Then I will sum up my overall thoughts and feelings in the conclusion.

+The removal of the time clock does encourage exploration.

+Getting power-ups from the enemies instead of an item was definitely a very big positive. The last game felt like random items gave random effects. This time the enemy gives the effects, which have both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes you actively pursue these power-ups, and at other times, you actively avoid them. Some puzzles even require them.

-The boss throwing Wario out of the ring, causing Wario's handler to retrace steps was an interesting take to boss battles. I would be on board with this change, if it weren't for one detail. When the boss throws Wario out of the room, Wario must begin from the boss battle from the start when he re-enters the room. If the boss battle would have merely picked up where it left off, that would have been fine. It's the fact the boss battles start all over again that has me annoyed by this feature.

-Why is Wario in white, especially in the Game Boy Color? I'm pretty sure he's established as purple overalls and yellow shirt & hat by now (see Mario Kart 64). Of all the systems to not show off Wario's colors, the Game Boy Color is the worst one to do so.

-This game is both linear and non-linear at the same time. On the first playthrough, the game is very linear, as it only gives you the option of 1 ending. The second and thereafter allows for multiple routes for multiple endings. I think multiple endings should be allowed from the onset.

-Wario Land II offers 2 minigames: a picture matching game and a number matching game. Completing all the minigames is required for 100% full completion. Both minigames become easier by putting more money into them. With the amount of money at the end of the game determining the gamer's final ranking in the game, however, both minigames discourage spending the money to make the minigame easier and encourage not spending money, which in turn results in a harder minigame. Putting the least amount of money into the picture matching game results in the pictures instantly flashing before the player's eyes, meaning the player must have immediate reaction. Failure to succeed at this game will result in having to play the minigame again, which costs more money. Putting the least amount of money into the number matching game will only reveal a ninth of the number, which the game has to guess from a range of 0 to 9. Virtually, the gamer is playing a guessing game based on luck, with a 10% probability of winning. Failure to win at this game requires replaying the whole level. Again, the prizes for winning these minigames are collectibles for 100% full completion and nothing more, and even then, they can be a detriment to fully completing the game with a high ranking. It almost feels like whoever plays Wario Land II has to choose whether he or she wants to 100% fully complete the game or go for the highest ranking but not both. Only the most season Wario Land II expert can do both.

In conclusion, to sum everything up, Nintendo continues to experiment on how to make a Wario Land game a unique platforing experience, at least unique from a Super Mario platforming game. The gameplay mechanic utilized to make Wario Land II unique is Wario's immortality. Enemy attacks that would kill Mario either knocks Wario back and costs Wario coins, or in some cases, gives him a power-up, which within itself can either be advantage or disadvantage. For this game, it works! Even though Wario can't die, the gamer won't want to just damage boost through the level. In a game which determines the final ranking based on the amount of currency at the end of the game, the player carefully avoids or attacks enemies, in fear of losing that precious money that will impact the final ranking. Overall, I would say that Wario Land II does a better job of making a Wario Land look and feel unique than its prequel. The prequel merely takes a Super Mario platforming game and gives it a Wario skin. This game stands out as unique in comparison to a Super Mario platforming game in the branching story, Wario's attacks, Wario's power-ups given by enemies and the bosses. Wario Land II is definitely an improvement from its prequel. I give it 4 stars. It's a good game. Make sure you play it until finish, but don't worry about ranking or completion.

Running Ranking
1. Wario Land II
2. Wario Land (1) 

Wario Land (1): Super Mario Land 3

Wario Land (1): Super Mario Land 3
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Original System: Game Boy
System Played On: 3DS (Virtual Console)
Rating: 3 1/2 stars 

On January 10, 2025, I cleared all 40 courses and defeated the Genie, thus finishing Wario Land (1), also known as Super Mario Land 3, for the Game Boy (via the 3DS Virtual Console)! This is the 1st Wario [Land] game I have finished. After my playthrough, I ended with 1,585 coins and 3 treasures. Once I traded those treasures in for coins, my price increased to 12,585 coins, which equates to 2 moneybags, which earned Wario the tree stump house. I also collected a maximum of 19 extra lives. And I did this all in a matter of 5 3/4 hours over 7 gameplay sessions (averaging 3/4 hour per playing session) over the real-time span of 10 days / 1 1/2 weeks / 1/3 month.

Just like the Yoshi games, Nintendo did not want Wario Land to become just another platforming game. The gamer can play that way, however, if he or she chooses. I did choose that route, hence why it only took me 5 1/4 hours, hence why I had a poor final score. This game encourages exploration. I do have some grievances, however, for some of the game mechanics go contrary to this encouraged exploration.

First, why is there a time clock again? Yoshi was smart about this. They turned off the time clock, so the player did not feel rushed to find all the collectables and raise to the finish line. Wario does bring back the time clock, causing a hesitancy in exploring, because spending the time to seek and find will be something the player may not be able to afford down the road.

Second, why didn't the game just leave the end goal gates wide open? OK, to be fair, Nintendo did try to teach this in game. At the close of the first level, Wario watches an NPC opens the door to conclude the level. The only problem, however, is that the game never tells the gamer which controller inputs to use. I honestly had to look up a walkthrough on how to progress. Apparently, the correct answer was Up+B. To be fair, I don't have the manual, and to be fair, I imagine a player with a manual can easily look it up. As a gamer new to this series, however, I am neither familiar with the mechanic of having to open the end goal gates, nor do I have a manual to look these things up for myself (people lose manuals, as evident by the number of "game cartridge only" listings on eBay). Do better, Nintendo, for your future games. You need to more explicitly teach this in the game.

Third, the treasure concept was never fully fleshed out for the players. All my trophies were found randomly because I just so happened to stumble upon either the key or the chest at the end. To make matters worse, if you get a game over, you lose a treasure. If you have no treasures to surrender, upon getting a game over, you lose half your coins. To me, this is too steep of a punishment. Because you lose trophies, you now need to go back to that course to find it again and manage your way through that level again. Losing half your coins is not as bad in the beginning of the game, but is a whole lot worse near the end of the game. That's unfair to players who have experience who just slip up near the end. I say the penalty for game over should have been a simple loss of 100 coins. Not too little, not too much.

Bosses lacked creativity. Most of the bosses were just giant-sized common enemies. Most of those bosses had the same exact way to defeat them: throw their babies at them. I don't know how many of my enemies and foes I defeated by throwing their kids at them. Speaking of bosses...

[SPOILER ALERT!!] I did not enjoy playing flip cup, or rather, flip lamp, while dodging genie attacks. As far as I am concerned, there is no way to guarantee for the lamp to land right side up, so the gamer can catch the cloud elevator up. Therefore, the player is just playing points at this point. Of course, as a Game Boy game, final boss battle takes 6 hits, not 3. Since the boss never changes phases, this rote repetition, which is tedious [/END SPOILERS]

Despite my gripes with the game, I found the game to an overall enjoyable experience, and I liked playing it. Although the subtitle of "Super Mario Land 3" was probably attached at the end to sell more games as a sequel to a beloved series, the subtitle fits. At the heart, this game is a platformer, just like the previous Super Mario Land games on the Game Boy. Just like the prior Super Mario Land games, the gamer aims to reach the goal at the end of level by jumping from platform to platform while either avoiding or attacking enemies. Just like Super Mario Land 1 & 2, the player has power-ups at Wario's disposal to make gameplay easier. At the same time, however, Nintendo mad enough changes to the formula to make the experience feel unique to Wario. Mario eats mushrooms to grow big; Wario eats garlic to grow big. Mario uses flowers to throw fireballs; Wario uses a dragon pot to breathe fire. It's not just the power-ups, it's also the attacks. Small and weak Mario can only resort to jumping on enemies; big and bulked up Wario can body slam and ground point. It's not just the attacks and the power-ups, but it's also the worlds, the enemies and the bosses, too. Yes, even the bosses. While the bosses lacked creativity, they felt like they could not belong in a Mario game, but they definitely belonged in a Wario game. Nintendo will continue to experiment on how to make a Wario Land game feel unique to Wario and not just another platforming game, but as for right now, having a Mario-like platforming game with Wario skin suffices. 

2024: The Year of Yoshi

Since 2015, I have dedicated the year to playing through all video games of a single video game franchise, and and since 2017, I have devoted that year to playing all video games of a single Nintendo series. I have also made it a habit to blog about by the end of the year on this blog, my video gaming blog. Starting out in 2017, I would just write a big, single post, telling my story of how the year progressed in playing these video games. As the years progressed, and as the blog posts got longer, I realized my posts merely combined my mini-review Facebook posts/status updates into one giant blog post, not really telling a story like in former years. Therefore, since 2022, near the end of year, I would publish onto this blog full-blown reviews of each of the games played this year. This year, 2024, has created a challenge to continuing this recent tradition. Between researching for a dissertation (yes, still) and adopting two children under the age of two (yes, now two), I no longer have the abundance of time to play and review games, especially when the series has more than 6 games. Still, I can't go back to my old format of telling the story of how the year went. After all, I'm just playing the games in order of release date. Therefore, for this year, I will try a new format. In past years, I would rank my favorite games of the series in a simple Facebook post/status update. For this year, the yearly blog will consist of an expanded ranking of favorite games. To make this expanded ranking, yet prevent it from becoming a long compilation of reviews, this blog will use bullet points to praise positives and criticize negatives. Each game will also mention a favorite part, as well as rank the game on a scale ranging from 0 stars to 5 stars, allowing for half-star ratings. Please note that the star rating reflects how good or bad the game is for a Yoshi game within the Yoshi series, not necessarily how good or bad the game is for a video game. Also please notice that number of positives and negatives does not solely reflect the game's ranking or rating, for the list of positives and negatives does not account for the amount of times I encountered the positives and negatives. The order of the games will go from most favorite to least favorite.

1) Yoshi's Island DS (DS)

+Positives+:
+Feels more like a direct sequel to the original Yoshi's Island than other sequels
+More of the original Yoshi's Island and yet better than the original Yoshi's Island
+Captures the same art style as the original Yoshi's Island, yet sharper
+Utilizes both top screen and bottom screen of the DS naturally with "look up/down" feature
+Addition of different babies with different powers adds a layer of complexity
+Ditto on all positives of original Yoshi's Island (see below)

-Negatives-:
-"Look up/down" feature not as responsive as it should be
-No way to change baby between levels
-Levels do not provide enough hints on which baby to use, resulting in a lot of backtracking
-Baby Wario and Baby Bowser available for only 1 world
-2 maze levels are way too easily to get lost

~Favorite Part~: Figuring out which baby to use to get the most effective results, which itself can result in quite the feeling of a power trip

*Rating*: 5 stars 

2) Yoshi's Island (Super Nintendo)

+Positives+:
+Collectives give the player more to do than just reach the end of the level
+Clear objectives on what full completion of a level looks like
+Transportation transformations changes up gameplay to prevent staleness
+Removal of time clock encourages exploration
+Exchanging life meter/points for baby Mario separation countdown innovates on gameplay
+Color drawings art style proves that aesthetic does not equate to graphics

-Negatives-:
-Some collectables are too hidden
-Some collectables are too hard to get
-Mini-bosses and bosses are just giant forms of common enemies
-Little variation on how to beat mini-bosses and bosses
-Unclear on how to beat Big Baby Bowser

~Favorite Part~: THAT MENU MUSIC!!!

*Rating*: 4 1/2 stars

3) Yoshi's New Island (3DS)

+Positives+
+Bottom screen keeps track of collectables, not taking up space on the top screen or constantly pausing
+Stuck with standard controls, instead of trying to force touch screen controls
+Eggdozer is pretty much the equivalent of the Mega Mushroom on New Super Mario Bros. but better
+Final boss battle controls function as they should
+Extra final boss for those who resist using Flutter Wings cheat/help
+Extra end credits cutscene for those who resist using Flutter Wings cheat/help, which provides lore
+Game automatically provides a checkpoint between final boss and extra final boss
+3DS entry into the series not the worst game of the series, as with so many other Nintendo franchises

-Negatives-
-Bottom screen just keeping track of collectables restricts innovative gameplay
-Gameplay returns to vanilla Yoshi's Island, which feels like a downgrade next to Yoshi's Island DS
-Instead of collectables earning points, collectables are kept track of separately, ruining motivation
-All transportation transformations come down to steering with tilt controls and shooting with a button
-No real, big difference between Eggdozer and Metal Eggdozer
-Too easy to accidentally pick up the Flutter Wings cheat/help, which automatically gives the bad ending
-Extra final boss is just final boss but faster
-Music orchestrated with children's toy instruments sounds awful!

~Favorite Part~: Power trip and satisfying feeling for correctly projecting an Eggdozer

*Rating*: 4 stars

4) Yoshi's Crafted World (Switch)

+Positives+:
+Plays well on joycons, pro controller, and third party controllers
+Plays well in TV mode, tabletop mode and handheld mode
+Collecting smiley flowers have a benefit to gameplay, not just collecting for the sake of collecting
+Costumes have gameplay purpose, not just for looks
+Amiibo support has gameplay purpose, not just for looks
+Return of game overs (kind of sort of), which the previous game lacked
+Badges do not return from previous game, which made the prior game too easy
+Levels with alternative gameplay styles have plenty of variety from each other
+Original bosses
+Flip slide allowing the gamer to see the back side of the crafted world is creative
+Scavenger hunts smart enough to allow the player to end the level upon finding the souvenirs
+Most doable game in the Yoshi series to 100% fully complete

-Negatives-:
-No fixed number on smiley flowers per level makes keeping track of smiley flowers hard
-Too many coins make coin smiley flower, extra lives and unlockable costumes meaningless
-Costumes could make game too easy
-Amiibo support only for characters in the Mario franchise
-No baby Mario means a life bar/meter again
-Slight change to egg throwing controls may throw off longtime Yoshi gamers
-Game can't always tell if player aims eggs up, down, left, right, forward or backwards
-Front side + flip side + souvenirs scavenger hunt = artificial padding
-Flip side levels give either too much time or not enough time
-Collectables kept track separately instead of contributing to a high score, ruining motivation
-Only 1 save file per profile
-While easiest game to 100% fully complete, most tedious game to 100% fully complete

~Favorite Part~: Playing the flip side level just to see all the creative was the developers used raw materials to create the crafted world

*Rating*: 3 1/2 stars

5) Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)

+Positives+:
+Plays well on Wii U Game Pad, Pro Controller, Classical Controller and sideways Wiimote
+Wonder Wool collectable gives more to do, especially if bored with smiley flowers and red coins
+Wonder Wool collectable goes along with the story
+Yoshi unlocked in the level goes along with the theme of the level
+Amiibo support for most Amiibos, even those outside the Mario and Yoshi series

-Negatives-:
-No use of Game Pad's microphone, gyroscope or touchscreen underutilizes Wii U hardware
-Keeps tracks of collectable separately, instead of creating a high score, ruining motivation
-Amiibo support just for looks, does nothing for gameplay
-No Pokemon amiibo support!
-No baby Mario; game uses life bar/meter/points instead
-No game over makes veteran gamers feel babied
-Badges make game too easy
-Boss battles overused/too repetitive
-Baby Bowser as the main antagonist makes no sense without return of baby Mario
-Too easy to just finish, too hard to fully complete

~Favorite Part~: The creative ways the Amiibos turned into yarn Yoshis

*Rating*: 3 stars

6) Yoshi's Story (Nintendo 64)

+Positives+:
+Pre-rendered sprites look better than the jagged characters typical for Nintendo 64 games
+Playing only 1 level per world prevents gamers from getting stuck
+Originality in boss design
+Collecting 30 fruit instead of crossing a gate as the end goal for each level new and innovative
+Since most (if not all) levels come with more than 30 fruit, player can decide how to beat the level
+Different colored Yoshis each represent a life; running out of Yoshis equates to running out of lives
+Yoshi's color indicates Yoshi's favorite fruit
+More control on aiming and firing eggs than the previous entry

-Negatives-:
-Graphics did not improve on a more powerful hardware
-Less content, especially for more powerful hardware
-Playing only 1 level per world feels like being robbed of gameplay
-Collectables necessary to unlock other levels of main story
-Bosses too easy to beat, especially final boss battle
-Doing multiple laps of a level just to get the required 30 fruit to end the level
-100% full completion requires multiple playthroughs of the game

~Favorite Part~: The satisfaction of finding a fruit or Shy Guy matching Yoshi's color

*Rating*: 2 1/2 stars

7) Yoshi Topsy-Turvy (Game Boy Advance)

+Positives+
+Game's motion controls adjust for OG GBA, GBA SP and DS
+Yoshi controls with D-pad, not motion controls
+Motion controls control the world, which is new and innovative
+Different spirits requiring different objectives

-Negatives-
-Too easy in the first half, too hard in the second half
-Final boss battle way too hard, to the point of unfair
-Game sometimes require a very precise tilt, down to exact degree
-Gold Medal expects way too high of a score

~Favorite Part~: Figuring out the most effective way to accomplish the objective(s) before reaching the end of the course feels satisfying

*Rating*: 2 stars

8) Yoshi Touch & Go (DS)

+Positives+:
+An attempt to give an "arcade game" a story
+Seeing all the Yoshi colors motivates the gamer to keep playing
+Areas randomly generate in response to how the player is doing
+Highly replayable

-Negatives-:
-Touch controls can't always tell the difference between controlling movement and shooting eggs
-More like an "arcade game," in which the only goal is to increase the high score
-Randomly generated areas prevents preparing in advance
-Not enough content for the hardware capabilities of the DS

~Favorite Part~: Seeing all the Yoshi colors gives a feeling of accomplishing something

*Rating*: 1 1/2 stars

9) Yoshi's Cookie (Nintendo/Game Boy/Super Nintendo)

+Positives+:
+Game Boy version has color support for Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance & Super Game Boy
+Super Nintendo version provides extra content in the forms of puzzle mode
+Cutscenes give a story to a puzzle game
+Cutscenes encourage advancing to harder rounds
+A secret cheat code unlocks an additional 89 round, for a grand total of 99 rounds available
+A tile-match game that slides whole rows/columns instead of just swapping tiles
+Every stage of every round in every speed is doable
+Music Type A is the best!

-Negatives-:
-Game Boy color support falls short of colors in both Nintendo and Super Nintendo versions
-Game Boy version missing animations
-Game Boy version can get squished, making it hard to see cookies
-Game Boy version needs backlight, a detriment to a puzzle game
-Game Boy version and Nintendo version missing puzzle mode
-Round 1 is too easy, even for a tutorial
-Second half of the stages in the second half of the rounds too easy to get stuck
-Changing speed does not have that big of an impact on gameplay
-Still ultimately just another tile-match game, just with a Yoshi aesthetic
-Music Type B is the worst!

~Favorite Part~: Music Type A

*Rating*: 1 star

10) Yoshi (Nintendo/Game Boy)

+Positives+
+2 game types and 2 speeds allows changing up for variety
+Swapping the stacks is a change for a falling block game
+Game Type B has cutscenes
+Game never felt unfair
+Mushroom music is the best!

-Negatives-
-2 game types x 2 speeds = only 4 different ways to play the game
-Game Type B requires almost impossible immediate reactions once past level 7
-Game Type B's cutscenes barely qualify as cutscenes
-Beating high scores is the only motivation to keep playing
-Too many Tetris comparisons ultimately make this game just another Tetris clone
-Yoshi kept to a minimum for a game named after Yoshi
-Japan got the better name of Yoshi no Tamago, or "Yoshi's Egg"
-Flower music is the worst!

~Favorite Part~: Mushroom music

*Rating*: 1/2 star 

Definitely Neither E3 Nor Summer Game Fest 2024

Both Nintendo and PlayStation continue to give both E3 and Summer Game Fest the middle finger by refusing to participate in either, yet still having a Direct or State of Play within the month of June (let's be honest, PlayStation having a State of Play on May 30 is pretty a "June Eve"). At least Xbox is kind enough to play along to with Geoff Keighly and have their showcase presented in the middle of his Summer Game Fest. Nevertheless, however you want to look it, June is the month where the big 3 video game console makers compete with one another to earn your hard-earned cash through glorified commercials. Of course, the ultimate winners and losers are determined by who does indeed earn the money, but it's still fun to speculate who won and who lost based off their presentation. Although I did not plan to do this, since E3 is dead and Summer Game Fest is a sad, fake imitation, I still thought it would be fun to share what I liked and didn't like, who I thought won and lost. I will be sticking to the big 3 video game console makers, although I will give an honorable mention shout-out to Ubisoft, who still insisted on having a live event, albeit all the games presented had prerecorded footage. I will go in order presented.

 

PLAYSTATION STATE OF PLAY

PlayStation's State of Play began with Concord. Concord seems to be PlayStation's answer to Overwatch, Valiant or APEX Legends, just that it's exclusive to the PlayStation 5 (PC doesn't count). Concord also feels like it was originally meant to be Guardians of the Galaxy version of Overwatch,Valiant, or APEX Legends, for all the characters have that same vibe, but for some reason or another, Firewalk couldn't get the rights from Marvel, so they just made original characters. In fact, I would describe Concord as a tactical hero shooter with Guardians of the Galaxy-like characters. I can't see this as a hit. Overwatch, Valiant and APEX Legends don't have the limitations of a console exclusive (PC doesn't count), but Concord does. I imagine that some people will try Concord out, but they will eventually go back to Overwatch, Valiant or APEX Legends.

Second, PlayStation announced that God of War: Ragnarök was coming to PC, including all the DLC. To me, this felt too little too late. By the time God of War: Ragnarök reaches PC, it will be out on PS4 and PS5 for 1 year 10 months. I find it very hard that PC gamers have held out for 1 year 10 months for this game if they really wanted to play it. I imagine the gamers who wanted to play it have already played it on  PS4 or PS5. By bringing out God of War: Ragnarök for PC 1 year and 10 months later, PlayStation will only squeeze out a few more sales, but not a lot.

Third, PlayStation announced Dynasty Warriors: Origins. I don't know, but after having a Dynasty Warriors game with Legend of Zelda characters and Fire Emblem characters, any other Dynasty Warriors game just feels too vanilla. I fear that Dynasty Warriors: Origins falls under that category.

Fourth, PlayStation followed up with Infinity Nikki, which looked and felt like a Genshin Impact clone, which is a Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild rip-off. A copy of a copy never does well. I can't see anything that shakes up the formula.

Fifth, PlayStation presented Ballard of Antara. Without any actual gameplay footage, I couldn't tell you what this game supposed to be about. After doing a quick Google search, I found out it's an action RPG, but again, without gameplay footage, I can't see how it shakes up the formula.

Sixth, PlayStation presented Skydance's Behemoth. This look like a cross between Skyrim and Dark Souls. The only thing it's got going for it is that it's a PSVR2 game.

Seventh, to continue with PSVR2, PlayStation introduced Alien: Rogue Incursion. See, I think this was the better announcement for PSVR2. The Alien franchise already has a set fan base; you're now just introducing another way to enjoy the world of Alien. I could see this working well as a PSVR2 game, especially with the horror aspect.

Eighth, back to PS5, PlayStation announced Marvel Rivals. Now see, this is what Concord probably wanted but never got. Not only does Marvel Rivals include Guardians of the Galaxy, but it also includes so many more Marvel superheroes. And since it will be available on both PS5 and Xbox Series, I imagine this will do so much better than Concord.

Ninth was Where Winds Meet, another game with an ancient Japan look and feel, yet it is not Ghost of Tsushima. I feel like this is just a tease at this point. Again, we saw 2 people fighting, but without a gameplay trailer, we have no idea how this game plays.

Tenth, Until Dawn is finally making the jump from PS4 to PS5. My feelings toward this is the same as God of War: Ragnarök. This is only for sales to a really niche audience. The only ones I can imagine wanting this game would be those who skipped out on the PS4 but got the PS5. Even so, the PS5 is backwards compatible to the PS4, so it should still play Until Dawn. I imagine the PS5 version will come with graphical upgrades, but how much better can the graphics get for brutally murdering teenagers with typical horror tropes?

Eleventh, Path of Exile 2 made one of the better announcements. Those who love the Diablo series will love Path of Exile 2. On top of that, it has cross-play and cross-progression with the Xbox Series. All these are major wins for fans of the first Path of Exile game.

Twelfth, another good showing would have to be the 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2. It looks like Bloober Team made a good, faithful remake. It looks and feels like Silent Hill 2. Of course, I've been let down by these kind of promises, so we will see how it plays out in the future.

Thirteenth, Monster Hunter Wilds looks pretty, but Monster Hunter Rise is the best selling game on the Nintendo Switch that is not published by Nintendo, and that game is nowhere near as pretty, but it still sold well. My point is that PlayStation can't sell game just because it's pretty on the system. Besides, it will look just as pretty on the Xbox Series. Still, Monster Hunter fans will like it, just based off of looks alone.

Finally, PlayStation closed out its State of Play with Astro Bot 2. PlayStation did indeed save the best for last. Astro Bot 2 has to be the best game presented. Whereas the first game was a love letter to PlayStation hardware, this second game will be a love letter to PlayStation software, the franchises and series that made PlayStation fanboys. I hate to say this, but this might be as close as anybody will ever see a PlayStation All-Stars 2. This is the game I liked the most, and this is the game that got me the most excited. I hope all the PlayStation fanboys felt the same.

In recent years, it seems like PlayStation wants its games to be just interactive cinematic movies, thanks to the success of games like Heavy Rain, The Last Of Us, Detroit: Become Human, Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghost of Tsushima. The only problem is that the gameplay ends up being the same, where all these games are so focused on telling a story, that the gameplay is reduced down to combat, crafting, and the occasional puzzle solving. The drawback of this when it comes to presenting State of Plays is that all the audience gets is cinematic trailers that give no clue into how the game plays. I have no idea  Infinity Nikki, Ballad of Antara, Skydance's Behemoth or Where Winds Meet plays. I can just assume it's more combat, crafting and occasional puzzle solving. It's hard for me to get excited for a game when I don't know what I'll be doing. Even more baffling is that, if PlayStation knows its strength is in these interactive cinematic games, then why show tactical hero shooters, like Concord and Marvel Rivals? Stick to what you know! The presentation of God of War: Ragnarök for the PC and Until Dawn for PS5 also baffles me because it does little to nothing to let everybody know there's now another way to play. Surely PlayStation can do better than this.

 +Positives+: Figured out how to be concise in little over a half hour, giving PSVR2 some time in the State of Play
-Negatives-: Too many cinematic trailers and not enough gameplay trailers, relying too much on story that leaves gameplay generic, too much time spent on Concord, having both Concord and Marvel Rivals shown off at the same time seemed kind of redundant, God of War: Ragnarök for the PC and Until Dawn for PS5 introduces a small new audience to these games, less than half the games of their competitors
~Top 3 Games~: AstroBot 2, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Path of Exile 2
*Medal*: Bronze

XBOX GAMES SHOWCASE

The Xbox Games Showcase starts off with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.  I'm going to cheat a little bit here and include the segment directly after the Xbox Games Showcase, although it was technically not part of the Xbox Games Showcase. The entry of Black Ops section of Call of Duty takes place in the post-Cold War 90s. For the first time, players will "go rogue against the machine that created them," which a fresh take on Call of Duty franchise generally and Black Ops series specifically. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 does an excellent job of tying together all previous Black Ops. Just like Assassin's Creed: Shadows (more on that later), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 does an excellent job of giving the gamer the choice of playing a stealth game or action combat game, which is fitting considering the gamer is suppose to play like he or she is part of a team of rogue militants. The developers clearly put a lot of money, time, resources, effort and dedication into the single-player campaign, which is saying a lot, especially in light of the lack thereof in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. This is probably the best looking Call of Duty game to date, paying attention down to fine details, like dirt in the nails. I like the blend of realism and hyper-realism the developers put into the game. The segment did go a lot into multiplayer, but I really didn't care for it, since I'm not much into multiplayer gaming. It sounds like the return to traditional prestige was something highly demanded by the fans. They tried to make the zombies mode of multiplayer new and improved, but it sounded like the same old zombies mode to me. In fact, I would have a hard time distinguish it from any other game that a zombies mode. All in all, I can ultimately say that I can see Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 not only the best game in the Black Ops series, but also the best game in the Call of Duty franchise.

Second, Xbox announced Doom: The Dark Ages. Apparently it's supposed to be a prequel to the 2016 Doom reboot and Doom Eternal. Ah, who cares? It looks and feels like Doom, so it's just more Doom, and that's all Doom fans care about and want.

Third, Xbox announced State of Decay 3. I will admit that in today's day and age it's hard to keep all these zombie shooters apart. To me, it looks like another zombie shooter. To the State of Decay fanboy, however, it looks like more of what they loved, so I think the State of Decay fan will appreciate this.

Fourth, Xbox announced Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I think this will have great appreciation. The last Dragon Age game came out in 2014. This series in 10 years overdue for a new game. While it's just another sequel, since the last entry has been so long ago, I think this sequel is well merited.

Fifth, Bethesda presented the Starfield Shattered Space DLC. I have a feeling that Starfield will be one of those games that's good once all the updates, expansion packs and DLC are released for it. I'm hoping this is a step in the right direction for Starfield, but as of right now, Starfield still feels like generic Bethesda game that takes place in space.

Sixth, Bethesda presented Fallout 76 Skyline Valley DLC. My feelings about Fallout 76 are the exact same as Starfield: it will be one of those games that's good once all the updates, expansion packs and DLC are released for it. Just like with Starfield, I'm hoping this is a step in the right direction for Fallout 76, but all I can do is hope, and we will wait and see. At least the old-time phone-a-thon presentation was a creative way to present the DLC.

Seventh, Xbox introduced Expedition 33. Expedition 33 describes itself as "ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever." The trailer was a little deceiving. First, I though it was a direct sequel to Bioshock Infinite, then I thought it was a sequel to A Plague's Tail Requiem. I'm guessing Xbox is advertising this game to keep themselves in the RPG conversation. Xbox isn't really known for its RPGs. Expedition 33 works as an example on why Xbox can be a system for the RPG fan. I also think that the game's self description is a major help, for it should unite the turn-based RPG fans and the live-action RPG fans.

Eighth, Xbox Game Studios presented South of Midnight. I hate the stop-motion graphics. It would make more sense if the game had a claymation aesthetic, but without it, it just looks like a low frame rate, which is not what you want to see from the most powerful console on the market. At least we got to see some gameplay, so the viewer knows what they will be playing, if they choose to play this game. And if the soundtrack for the trailer is the soundtrack for the game, it fits well.

Ninth, Blizzard showed off World of Warcraft: The War Within. This was a good call on Microsoft's part. World of Warcraft is probably Blizzard's most famous IP. If any game or series made it worth the multi-million dollar purchase, it was World of Warcraft. Another expansion pack to the famous MMO will do no wrong for Microsoft. The only drawback is that this is obviously for PC only, so it really doesn't show off why a gamer needs as powerful of a console as the Xbox Series.

Tenth, Konami continues its remakes of Metal Gear Solid with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. This is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Konami has never gone wrong with a Metal Gear Solid remake, so I can't imagine anything going wrong with this one. In fact, remaking the Hideo Kojima games seems to be the safer route than making an original Metal Gear Solid game, so keep remaking these Metal Gear Solid games, Konami!

Eleventh, Xbox Game Studio continued to show its support for Sea of Thieves, announcing a new season, season 13, coming on July 25. It seems to include a new villain, a new world event, a new weapon, a new ship, and the opportunity to become the bad guy. Sea of Thieves has to be one of the most popular IPs on Xbox right now. It's a smart move to show continual support of the IP.

Twelfth, Xbox showed off Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. Supposedly it's an action RPG. Not the best trailer because I couldn't pick that up from any of the footage.

Thirteenth, Age of Mythology: Retold is the definitive version of Age of Mythology, an entry in the Age of Empires series. RTS games don't always get a lot of coverage, so it's nice to see an RTS game here. It's beneficial to Xbox, for it lets gamers know that the Xbox Series is console for RTS gamers, too.

Fourteenth, Rare revealed a new entry in the Perfect Dark series. Apparently, this is a reboot of the original. If I understand correctly, this reveal was quite the surprise, as nobody saw it coming. I am cautiously optimistic about this game. Ever since Xbox acquired Rare, the Perfect Dark series has been lackluster, to say the least. In 2005, Rare made for the Xbox 360 Perfect Dark Zero, a prequel to Perfect Dark, which did not receive the same hype as the first game. In 2010, Xbox 360, through the Live Arcade, got a remastering of the original game, but the remaster still did not make a 5th generation game look any better on a 7th generation console. Perhaps a 14-year hiatus is what the series needed to generation enough hype for a new game, albeit a reboot of the original. Based off the trailer, it clearly has inspirations from Assassin's Creed and Mirror's Edge. Hopefully those influences will not drown out the first person shooting that made the original so popular.

Fifteenth, Blizzard presented Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred. The graphic images warning at the beginning of the reveal trailer was kind of funny, considering other M rated games were presented before Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred with no such warning, especially for Doom: The Dark Ages. Just like with World of Warcraft: The War Within, Microsoft made an excellent decision displaying this game, for it is probably the 2nd most famous Blizzard franchise. Unlike World of Warcraft: The War Within, however, Diablo IV: The Vessel of Hatred has the advantage because it can be played on both PC and Xbox Series. In fact, according to Xbox, Xbox Series is the most popular way to play Diablo IV. It was also a good choice to display Diablo IV: The Vessel of Darkness because it  showed off the power of the graphics chip. Diablo IV: The Vessel of Darkness looked stunningly beautiful, and that's saying a lot for a game like Diablo IV. While not exclusive to the Xbox Series, this presentation made it look the best on the Xbox Series.

Sixteenth, developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studio, it's Fable! Yes, just Fable. They dropped the IV. I'm not sure if this means it's considered a reboot of the series. It could be, for the trailer did not look or sound like anything I remember from the original game. Personally, I hope it is a sequel; it's just that they decided to drop the IV, but they haven't figured out a new subtitle for the game just yet. Besides that, it looks and feels like a Fable game, down to its sense of humor. I think the Fable fans will enjoy it, and they will like it even more if it's a true sequel, not just a reboot.

Seventeenth, Fragpunk looks like a combination of a shooter game and a card game. There's not many games that combine those two video game genres. The only two that come to mind is Amazing Eternals and Neon White. If Fragpunk believes it has something different from the shooter x card crossover, I'm willing to give it a try.

Eighteenth, to give the indie game space the time of day, Xbox showed off Winter Burrow, developed by Pine Creek Games. Xbox describes Winter Burrow as a combination of a cozy game and a survival game. Again, this is a video game genre combination that is rarely seen. In fact, I can't think of another game that has combined these two video game genre. Therefore, Winter Burrow has gotten me curious enough that I'm willing to try it.

Nineteenth, Annapurna Interactive presented Mix Tape. Mix Tape clearly has its influence from Life is Strange. Mix Tape is also heavily relying on nostalgia, more specifically nostalgia of being a teen in the summer of the 1980s and 1990s. I can't imagine how much they paid on music royalties alone. I do wonder who the target audience is. Anyone who was a teen in the 1980s is in their 50s in the 2020s, and anyone who was a teen in the 1990s is in their 40s in the 2020s. Therefore, the market Mix Tape is trying to reach is middle-aged gamers. Hey, more power to them. If there is a bigger market of middle-aged gamers than I think, Xbox made a wise decision presenting Mix Tape here.

Twentieth, Xbox continues to show off Microsoft Flight Simulator. This is almost like an annual tradition for them. Honestly, I don't blame them. To date, this is still one of the best games, if not the best game, that shows of the graphics capabilities of the Xbox Series. This presentation seemed to focus on aviation as a career, showing off being a commercial flight pilot, air ambulance pilot, aerial advertisement pilot, VIP charter service pilot, agricultural aviation pilot, search & rescue pilot, helicopter cargo transport pilot, remote cargo operations pilot and aerial firefighting pilot. This makes Microsoft Flight Simulator feel more like a game and less like a simulator. I'm all for that.

Twenty-first, Bethesda gave some time to Elder Scrolls Online for its 10th year anniversary. I really don't get the point of this, besides to congratulate Elder Scrolls Online for making it 10 years. Yes, it did announce that all DLC would be free for a limited time, but the trailer didn't really advertise that. Also, "We Belong" by Pat Benatar really didn't fit in the Elder Scrolls Online world. Yes, I get the whole point of saying "We belong in the world together" for a MMO, but it still felt out of place.

Twenty-second, Square Enix announced that Life Is Strange is getting another entry with Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. This time, it looks like Max's power is that she can explore alternative time dimensions. Therefore, it's her goal to solver her friend's murder in one time dimension by communicating with that very alive friend in another time dimension. It's more Life Is Strange, so if you liked Life Is Strange up to this point, you'll like Life Is Strange: Double Exposure.

Twenty-third, Bethesda showed off Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and my gosh, did they show it off! Not only does Indiana Jones looks like a young Harrison Ford, he moves like a young Harrison Ford, so much so that I swear that they somehow motion captured a young Harrison Ford. Also, on a similar note, Troy Baker somehow sounds exactly like a young Harrison Ford, so much so that you swear Harrison Ford had reprised his role. Outside Indiana Jones being a perfect digital copy of a young Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle looks and feels like an Indiana Jones movie, even down to the typical Indiana Jones villain. I have only two complaints. Primarily, the trailer was all cinematic trailer and no gameplay trailer. I can only assume Indiana Jones and the Great Circle plays like a Uncharted game (after all, Uncharted was originally meant to be an Indiana Jones licensed game, but it became its own thing when it could not secure the license), but that's just an assumption. For all we know, it's just an interactive movie with quick time events. Secondarily, that title sounds so lame. Yes, I understand the purpose of the title, but still, a subtitle of "Great Circle" sounds so lame. Xbox knew what they were doing here. If Xbox can't get Uncharted because it's a PlayStation exclusive, then get Bethesda to get Lucasfilms to make an Uncharted-like game using the licensed property that Uncharted was trying to get originally. Well played, Xbox, well played.

Twenty-third, Xbox showed off Mecha Break. Eh, it's a Japanese multiplayer mech fighter. Again, I understand the purpose of showing off this game. Xbox wanted to show the fans of mech fighters that they can find a game on Xbox that appeases to them, too. It's not my cup of tea, but for those who like that video game genre, they'll like this game.

Twenty-fourth, Xbox revealed Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. Again, this is another game that would have benefited more from a gameplay trailer and less from a cinematic trailer. Apparently, it's another action RPG, but I couldn't pick that up from the cinematic trailer. I also fail to see how this game differs from any other action RPG game. You're only going to like this game if you're interesting the Ming dynastic era of China's history.

Twenty-fifth, Xbox presented Avowed. I don't think this was a wise decision on Xbox's part. This game was originally announced in 2020, and the best they could do was tell us it's coming sometime the second half of 2004. We've been waiting 4 years, and the best Xbox could give us was, "Yes, this is still a thing, it still exists, and it's coming!" Furthermore, this is a back-to-back action RPG announcement. Action RPGs are starting to flood this Xbox Games Showcase. There's very little differentiating these action RPGs, and since any RPG game will take up a bunch of time, one RPG (action or not) has to show it stands out above and beyond the rest. None of these action RPG games have done this, especially Avowed.

Twenty-sixth, Xbox announced Atomfall. Once again, a gameplay trailer would have done better than a cinematic trailer, for the cinematic trailer tells me nothing about the game. Just based off the name alone, I'm guessing Atomfall is an alternative timeline when an atom bomb falls on Great Britain during World War II? Therefore, I'm guessing Atomfall is another post-apocalypse survival game, which will contain combat, crafting and exploration. If I'm correct on the premise, the premise sounds interesting, but I'm not sure if that will carry a very generic gameplay.

Twenty-seventh, Ubisoft previewed Assassin's Creed: Shadows. Of course, you learn more about the game watching Ubisoft's Forward, so I'm going to do my best pretending like I only saw the cinematic trailer from the Xbox Games Showcase. Assassin's Creed: Shadows takes place in feudal Japan, a highly requested time period for an Assassin's Creed game to take place. That already scores so many points with so many fans. By now, Ubisoft has learned that the primary entertainment value for an Assassin's Creed game is the alternative history. Some people prefer the traditional stealth gameplay of the earlier games, while other people prefer the action combat of the later games. Ubisoft has seemed to seamlessly combine the two. One assassin is a ninja, who fights stealthily as the assassins in earlier games. The other assassin is a samurai, who fights with the head-on action combat of the later games. Now the player can choose which assassin to play as, thus choosing which gameplay style they like. Wise choice, Ubisoft.

Twenty-eighth, Xbox showed off S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. This announcement has its pros and cons. On the pro side, this is first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game since 2009, and the first true sequel to original in 2007. This is one of those games that has a much awaited sequel. On the con side, this game was first announced all the way back in 2012, cancelled in the same year, restarted in 2018, and it kept getting delayed. Fans may have gotten worn out waiting for this game. While it's nice to have an official release date of September 6, less than 3 months away, don't be surprised if fans have their doubts.

Twenty-ninth, Xbox introduced an all-digital Xbox Series X. I'm kind of scratching my head on this one. I thought the whole point of releasing 2 Series consoles simultaneously was that the X was meant for physical games and the S was meant for digital games. Xbox Series X all-digital sounds to me like an oxymoron or a paradox. I can't imagine anyone getting this Xbox Series X all-digital. Alongside this introduction, Xbox also introduced a Series S with a 1 TB hard drive and a Series X with a 2 TB hard drive. This hardware announcement is more worth it. With games continuing to grow in size, and with a push for digital games over physical games (unfortunately), video game home consoles need bigger hard drives, and Xbox delivers here. This does make me curious, however, about next year. Next year, Xbox Series turns 5 years old. It would be the perfect time to release a "half console" update. A bigger hard drive and an all-digital version is barely enough to qualify as a hardware update. It leaves room on the stage for a "half console" upgrade next year.

Finally, Xbox Game Studios presented Gears of War: E-Day. I will admit I have been out of touch with the Gears of War series for a long time. What I have discovered is that, apparently, Gears of War fans missed the old character and have desperately been calling for them to come back. Well, Xbox delivered with Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel. Like I said, being out of touch with the series for so long makes it hard to make an accurate judgment, but if I were a Gears of War fanboy, I imagine I would be super excited about this announcement. Way to end on a bang, Xbox!

Xbox continues to be in denial that exclusives sell consoles. Most of the games presented in the Xbox Games Showcase can be played on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and/or PC. Why would a gamer than want to buy the Xbox Series? Xbox still insists because the Xbox Series can play the game better. To contrary, players take a minor hit on graphics with the PS5, or even sometimes a major hit with graphics on the Nintendo Switch, if the can play the same game here plus play PlayStation/Nintendo exclusives (and sometimes, in the case of the Switch, it's a cheaper console). Instead, what's really keeping the Xbox Series alive is Game Pass. Most, if not all, of the games presented in the Xbox Games Showcase can be played day 1 on Game Pass. For as little as $10 a month, or as much as $17 a month, Game Pass subscribers can play most, if not all, of these games day 1, instead of having to shell out $40-70 per game, which is how gamers will have to pay for playing games shown on the PlayStation State of Play and the Nintendo Direct. Besides the benefits of Game Pass, Xbox had a lot of positives for the Xbox Games Showcase. Plenty of games from Activision/Blizzard, Bethesda and Rare proved that purchase of those three publishers were money well spent. Games from Ubisoft, Square Enix, Annapurina Interactive and Konami demonstrated that Xbox continually has support from third-party publishers. The plethora of game genres covered proved that Xbox had a game for everybody (even if action RPGs got too much attention). Xbox made 30 announcements (29 software + 1 hardware) in the span of the 1 1/4 hour Xbox Games Showcase (not counting the half hour Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 segment directly after). While one can appreciate the impactful punch PlayStation and Nintendo made in such a short time, one can also appreciate how much Xbox jam packed, warranting a long play time. Not a minute was wasted.

+Positives+: Most news games available on Game Pass day 1, plenty of games from the third-party publishers they purchased, plenty of third-party publisher support, only one to have major hardware update, longest presentation yet not a minute wasted
-Negatives-: Still a lack of console exclusives, purchased third-party publishers still making games for competitors, most third-party games play on consoles with exclusives, too many cinematic trailers and not enough gameplay trailers (although not as bad as PlayStation), too many action RPGs, War of Warcraft: The War Within announcement does nothing for the Xbox Series

~Top 3 Games~: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Assassin's Creed: Shadows
*Medal*: Silver

NINTENDO DIRECT

The Nintendo Direct commenced with an overshot of the Mushroom Kingdom. OK, so the game has to come from the Mushroom Kingdom world. Shortly after, I see Luigi, then followed by Mario. I immediately recognize that art style! It's the Mario & Luigi art style! Sure enough, it is a Mario & Luigi game, more specifically, Mario & Luigi: Brothership. Mario & Luigi Brothership has done an amazing job retaining the art style from previous entries, yet updating it for the 1080p capabilities of the Switch. The gameplay of turned-based RPG battles with quick time events returns from prior games. I'm guessing the remakes of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door must have been so successful that Nintendo realized how much their audience appreciates their traditional RPGs, so much so they're willing to return to another one of their RPG series. I'm glad Nintendo decided to make a brand-new game instead of remaking a previous Mario & Luigi game. I am also happy to get a brand-new entry, considering it's been almost 9 years since the last one. I don't know why I'm so surprised. Just as recent as last year, Nintendo renewed the copyright for Mario & Luigi. I guess I supposed it was to just hold onto the copyright. I'm guessing my surprise is that I thought the Mario & Luigi series died with AlphaDream died, which makes me curious who did develop the game. Nintendo has been pretty hush about the developers. I imagine it was down in-house. I just hope whoever did it respected what AlphaDream did and kept the look and feel they created. So far, it looks like they did.

Second, Nintendo covered Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. The decision to include this in the Nintendo Direct baffles me. Nintendo already announced Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. Why bother covering it again? Especially considering the game comes out in a month! Apparently, there was new features announced, like survival mode, but I don't think this warrants a slot in the Nintendo Direct. Nintendo should have just given an updated trailer on YouTube and their social medias sometime in the future.

Third, Nintendo announced Fairy Tail 2. I imagine that there's a Fairy Tail fanbase out there somewhere, and they highly appreciate this. To me, it's another Japanese action RPG. The one thing I can say I appreciate about this, however, is that Nintendo displayed actual gameplay, whereas so many of the action RPGs of the Xbox Games Showcase just had cinematic trailers.

Fourth, Nintendo revealed Fantasian Neo Dimention. At first, this looked like another JRPG. Then, they revealed it was from Square Enix and more specifically, developers of Final Fantasy, which definitely and immediately gave it some more leverage.Then, they revealed that the turn-based battles will have multiple enemies, and attacks can be combined to attack multiple enemies at once. I thought this was a new take on the genre, or at least a take not often taken. Between the fact that this JRPG has developers and a publishers well known for JRPGs and the fact that it takes a new or rare spin on the JRPG, I think this game is worth a try.

Fifth, Nintendo presented basketball DLC for Nintendo Switch Sports. Basketball will have 2 vs. 2 matches and a 3-point challenge, similar to the one seen during the NBA All-Star game. Of course, 2 vs.s 2 games will have both local multiplayer and online multiplayer. And of course it's a free update, coming this summer. It better be free, as it should have been in the game originally! I enjoyed the basketball 3-point challenge in Wii Sports Resort, but I always felt like it missed a real basketball game. I like the fact that Nintendo Switch Sports rectifies that. I just hope it delivers.

Sixth, Nintendo showed off MIO: Memories in Orbit. Clearly, the artstyle is heavily inspired by the recent Legend of Zelda games, like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. The gameplay makes the game look like it's another one of those super hard platformers, like Super Meat Boy or Celeste. Fans of Super Meat Boy and Celeste will like MIO: Memories in Orbit just to have another challenging platformer. Besides that, the game has to do something to change up the formula to make it worthwhile.

Seventh, Nintendo announced that Disney Illusion Island will get a free update. To make things cooler, the free update was a shadow drop, promised to be released by the end of the day. Fans of the game will appreciate more content. Besides that, the DLC alone would not convince anybody who doesn't have the game to now buy the game, unless that person hesitated to buy the game because of not enough content.

Eighth, Nintendo presented Hello Kitty Adventure. It appears to be Animal Crossing, just with Hello Kitty characters. The only ones buying this game is the fans of Hello Kitty. Everybody else will go back to playing Animal Crossing. Nintendo proudly said it was a "timed exclusive," meaning to play it first, it has to be played on Nintendo Switch. I'm not sure Hello Kitty will convince anyone to buy a Switch over a PS5 or Xbox Series, though.

Ninth, Nintendo revealed Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports. This is an interesting choice for Nintendo to reveal in a Direct. The sports revealed in the Direct (they may be more) were basketball, tennis and soccer. Nintendo already has a Mario soccer game out and a Mario tennis game out, and they just revealed that basketball was the next update for Nintendo Switch Sports. Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports will have all 3 sports in 1 game, whereas to play with Nintendo characters, it would require purchasing 3 different games. That alone might be a selling point for Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports. I remember playing as a child a Looney Tunes basketball game on the Super Nintendo, which was not Space Jam (Space Jam had not come out at this point), but a Looney Tunes skin over NBA Live. I really enjoyed that game as a kid. The basketball game in Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports reminded me of the Super Nintendo Looney Tunes basketball game, so basketball alone might convince me to buy the game.

Tenth, Nintendo showed off the update for Among Us. This is very much a delayed announcement. Among Us on mobile and other platforms already has this update. The Nintendo version sounds behind with this announcement, which discourages me even further from playing on the Switch. Again, bragging it's a free update is not a legitimate brag, for again, mobile and other platforms already got it for free. It would be criminal if it wasn't free.

Eleventh, Nintendo announced Farmagia. The closest game comparison I can give to Farmagia is Monster Hunter. Farmagia seems to have more emphasis on farming gameplay on top of battling monsters. Because of this, to me, it feels like another farming simulator, just with a monster battling twist. The Switch already has too many farming simulators, but I give Farmagia props for at least trying to change up the formula with this heavy emphasis on monster battling.

Twelfth, Donkey Kong Returns returns, now to the Switch under the name Donkey Kong Returns HD. Seriously, the better name would have been "Donkey Kong Returns Returns." Donkey Kong Returns already looked good on the 480p Wii; it really didn't need the 1080p Switch treatment. I know why Nintendo did this, though. Donkey Kong Returns is one of the most, if not the most, popular Donkey Kong game. It sold successfully on the Wii, and the 3DS ports sold just as successfully, so it probably will sell just as successfully on the Switch. The Switch port seems to be a remake directly from the Wii, but they added the additional 3DS levels, which was a selling point to the 3DS port. Also another selling point from the 3DS remake that the Switch will borrow, the Switch version will not have motion controls. I say do your research before deciding what version of the Donkey Kong Return you want to play, but the Switch will make the game readily available to new players.

Thirteenth, Nintendo introduces the next game with simply, "Take a look at this." This usually indicates the next game will be a big deal. The opening cinematic shows hieroglyphs with a painting of a dark-haired girl.  She looks a lot like Hilda from The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds, a 3DS game. Is this a Switch port of that game? No. It's Dragon Quest 3: HD 2D Remake. Not as impressive as a Legend of Zelda remake, but still pretty impressive. Square Enix has done an excellent job of turning 2D games into HD, and it looks like Square Enix has done an equally fanstastic job with Dragon Quest 3: HD 2D Remake. The trailer says it will be available on November 14, 2024. From there, it transitions to say that Dragon Quest 1 & 2: HD 2D Remake. At first, I found myself confused. Aren't people just going to hold off on purchasing Dragon Quest 3: HD 2D Remake in 2024 until Dragon Quest 1 & 2: HD 2D Remake come out in 2025? Fortunately, Dragon Quest creator and game designer Yuji Horii explained afterward that Dragon Quest 3 is a prequel to Dragon Quest 1 & 2, so this time they are selling the games in order of game story chronology to see if gamers experience the story differently. I can see these remakes of the first 3 Dragon Quest games becoming the definitive edition, so new players will want to pick up these games, as well as old fans looking to return to the roots of the series. (Also, for the sake of the count, I'm considering the whole Eldridge trilogy of Dragon Quest as 1 big announcement.)

Fourteenth,  FunkoFusion pops onto Nintendo Switch (their pun, not mine) on September 13, 2024. Man, this game took a big hit coming to the Switch. It's a huge graphical downgrade. It's hard to believe that can happen to Funko Pops, but it did. If you have any of the other gaming consoles, or a capable PC, play this game on there, not on the Switch.

Fifteenth, Nintendo presents Luigi's Mansion 2 HD. If the presentation of Nintendo World Sports: NES Edition was baffling, then presenting Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is very baffling. We already know about this game! Why bother covering it again? Especially considering the game comes out in 9 days! To make matters worse, it's not like they told us about any other new features. It's still just the same old 3DS game, just with HD graphical improvements for the Switch. Yes, if you never played the game, get the Switch port over the original 3DS game, but if you already played the 3DS game, there's no reason to get the Switch version.

Sixteenth, Nintendo revealed The New Dempa Men by Genius Sonority. It looks like Miitopia, just with Dempa Men. I imagine these a niche audience for this somewhere, and this reveal clearly appeals to them. It has minigames that can be played in local multiplayer. It's a free-to-play game, which means there is no loss in at least trying it out. If you are already a fan, and you need to get ahold of the game as soon as possible, then the Switch is your best option, as it is a timed exclusive. Again, Nintendo has won over a niche audience with this game.

Seventeenth, from SNK Corporation, it's Metal Slug Reloaded. Again, this is another 2D HD remake. The big added feature is online multiplayer. On top of all that, it got a shadow drop release, making it available by the end of the day. Again, we got another niche audience appeal. If you somehow could afford the SNK Neo-Geo back in the day, and you miss its games, one of its more popular games now can be played on the Switch.

Eighteenth, from Red Hook Studios, it's Darkest Dungeon II. As the name hints, it's a sequel to a gothic roguelike RPG.Therefore, if you liked Darkest Dungeon I, or you like roguelike RPGs in general, you'll like this game.

Nineteenth, Nintendo gave a slew of games coming to Nintendo Switch Online. Game Boy Advance began. To start, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords. I wished they would have ported the anniversary edition, which was limited release on the 3DS, directly to the Switch, but this is a nice consolation. I hope I can find 3 friends to team up with me, so I can try the Four Swords portion for the first time in my life. Next, Metroid: Zero Mission. I understand the delay because, ultimately, this is a remake of the NES game, which is already on NES Online. At the same time, however, this was the one and only Metroid game missing on Game Boy Advance Online, so it's a much welcomed inclusion. Moving onto the Nintendo 64, Nintendo added Turok and Perfect Dark. Now you might be thinking to yourself, "Aren't these M rated games?" Yes, they are, and Nintendo is already ahead of you. Nintendo has made a new app/channel for them, called "Nintendo 64 Online Mature 17+" I thought this was really uncalled for. Isn't there some way to put them on the regular Nintendo 64 Online app/channel and block them with parental blocks? Apparently not. Well, I'm glad Nintendo figured out a way around this. My favorite of the 2 has to be Perfect Dark. It goes perfectly with the Perfect Dark reboot coming to the Xbox Series. I guess this just Nintendo and Xbox working together again. (The 4 Nintendo Switch Online game I am also considering one giant announcement.)

Twentieth, from NIS comes Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. This is another JRPG, but this time, it has a chibi look. I've never been a fan of the chibi look; it always looks like a downgrade to me. If JRPGs with a chibi look is your thing, go for it, but it's a pass for me.

Twenty-first, Capcom gives the Nintendo Switch Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. This collection will come with 7 games, most of which are fighting games, but it has some beat 'em ups thrown into it, too. Of course, the collection supports both local multiplayer and online multiplayer. A new feature added to all the games is a training mode. Capcom gives this collection its standard collection treatment with an artwork and music museum. This is an excellent collection for anyone looking to get into the series.

Twenty-second, Nintendo announced Mario Party Jamboree. This is a jam-packed full Mario Party game. The boards seem to have Mario Party 8 inspiration, for not all the boards have the same simple goal of trading in 20 coins for a star. On top of that, they have 2 boards returning from older Mario Party games: Mario's rainbow castle from Mario Party 1 and western land from Mario Party 2. Mario Party Jamboree will have over 110 minigames, covering both traditional controller inputs and motion controls. Personally, I missed the motion controls minigames in Mario Party Super Star. There is 20 different characters for players to play as. This is probably because Mario Party Jamboree comes with its own version of Fall Guys, called Koopathalon mode. Not to be pessimistic, but I have a feeling this was originally supposed to be DLC for Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars separately, but somewhere at sometime they decided to combine them and sell them a one whole game for $60 (which also probably means neither Super Mario Party nor Mario Party Super Stars will get DLC). Will that combination work out? We will have to wait and see. Still going to get it, either way.

Twenty-third, it's another "Please take a look at this" moment. The scene opens with Link, in the Link's Awakening (Switch) aesthetic, fighting his way to Ganon, who has Zelda entrapped in a purple crystal. Is Link's Awakening on the Switch getting DLC? That would be preposterous, considering the only DLC the game ever got was the color dungeon going from the Game Boy to the Game Boy Color. Is it a Link to the Past HD remake for the Switch? I don't remember Zelda ever entrapped in a purple crystal in that game, though. Is it a demake of the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? That had Zelda entrapped in a purple crystal. That game, however, has a 240p remake on the 3DS, so surely it could handle a 1080p remake on the Switch! Nope, it's none of them. It's a brand-new game. Meet The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. For the first time in the franchise's history, Zelda is the main, playable character. Instead of using a sword, Zelda will fight with a wand, which can duplicate items and enemies alike. Yes, the irony is not lost on me about the Wand of Gamelon. It's like Nintendo reluctantly remembered the game, and then thought to themselves, "You know, they were on the right track, let's see if we can do better." Listen, I understand that playmobile art style was a necessary evil for the Switch remake of Link's Awakening, but it's totally unnecessary for any new Legend of Zelda game, including Echoes of Wisdom. Listen, I understand what Nintendo is trying to do here. Just like they have successfully had 2D Super Mario games and 3D Super Mario games side-by-side, Nintendo wants to have 2D Legend of Zelda games and 3D Legend of Zelda games side-by-side. In the case of Super Mario, however, 2D Mario (and company) and 3D Mario (and company look very similar, almost the same. In the case of Legend of Zelda, they do not. Imagine if Pokemon made all the new Pokemon games look like Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Gamers would abhor that! So why aren't players abhoring this playmobile style in Echoes of Wisdom? I wish all future Legend of Zelda games would hold to the cel-shaded 3D models, as seen in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I can appreciate, though, Nintendo attempting a different take on the Zelda formula.

Twenty-fourth, Ubisoft introduces Just Dance 2025 Edition. This is not as bad as Nintendo World Sports: NES Edition or Luigi's Mansion 2 HD because it was not previously announced, but it's pretty much expected at this point, so that's somewhat similar. Just Dance 2025 Edition comes with 40 new songs. Most of the songs I recognize, which means it's not just recent one-hit wonders, which makes me glad. I am really curious how you dance to "Basket Case" by Green Day, though. Just Dance 2025 Edition also comes with difficulties, which they clearly borrowed from Harmonix's Dance Central. Too little, too late, I say. Outside this Nintendo Direct, I discovered that the Just Dance series now has lore. A good soundtrack plus the addition of difficulties plus lore makes this game more attractive to me.

Twenty-fifth, the newest Lego game is Lego Horizon Adventures. This game makes me chuckle. Nintendo found a way to get a Horizon game on their system. Interesting enough, this game is developed and published by PlayStation for the Switch. Even more interesting, this game can be played on PS5 and Switch, but it cannot be played on any Xbox console. It looks like PlayStation is taking a play from the Xbox playbook, allowing Nintendo to have their game, believing that it plays better on a PS5. That or PlayStation hopes that Nintendo gamers will play Lego Horizon Adventures, realize how cool it is, want to play the original Horizon Zero Dawn, so they will go out and purchase a PS5. More power to you, PlayStation. Go for it.

Twenty-sixth, Annapurna Interactive delivers to Switch Stray. Just like with FunkoFusion, this game takes a major graphical hit coming to Switch. Textures are blurred badly. If you're a Nintendo fan, who only owns a Nintendo console, yet wants to see what the hype is around Stray, then get this game. Otherwise, play it on a more powerful system. Heck, you may not even get why it's a big deal playing graphically downgraded version on the Switch!

Twenty-seventh, from Private Division comes Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. I want to say, "Ugh, another farming and crafting game," but I know the appeal here is that this farming and crafting game from the Lord of the Rings, which gives it more appeal automatically. Therefore, I would say, if you love Lord of the Rings, pick up this game, but if not, then stick your Animal Crossing.

Twenty-eighth, Capcom re-enters the picture with Ace Attorney: Investigation Collection. This is a dream come true for Ace Attorneys. It's not just it's 2 games combined into 1 collection; it's also that 1 of the games never got released outside Japan, giving North American and European audience a brand-new game. On top of the standard collection treatment Capcom delivers, like art gallery and soundtrack, Ace Attorney: Investigation Collection allows the player to alternative between the pixel graphics and the modern graphics at the press of a button. This is a nice choice to give players. I like that Capcom continually allow for Ace Attorney to become available to a new audience by continually updating for the current generation of consoles.

Twenty-ninth, Aniplex and Tookyo Games team up to give The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy. This game comes from the makers of the Danganropa series, and boy, you can tell, for it looks and feels like it. The big difference is that this seems like a different kind of strategy game. Hey, if they delivered for the Danganropa series, I imagine they can deliver for The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy.

Thirtieth, Square Enix has another remake for the Nintendo Switch. This time it's Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. This time, however, this remake of a Super Nintendo game will get the full 3D remake, not just shining up 2D sprites. The transition from 2D to 3D can always be a little tricky. I can see this becoming a hot topic within the community. Perhaps some wish it stayed in 2D, while maybe others want it to go 3D. If done well, the remake will pay off, for both Square Enix and fans alike.

Finally, it's time for Nintendo's "one last thing" moment. The scene opens up with green text on a black screen reading, "Cosmic Year 20X9, Galactic Federation Research Facility." Nintendo fans in the know will know this is for a Metroid game. Which game will it be? Samus steps out of her ship. Nice 3D models, so it can't be a port of an older 2D game, but still no other clue. Then, it goes into a first person perspective. It's a Metroid Prime game! Is it an HD remake of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes or a brand-new game? It's Metroid Prime 4! Everybody say with a loud sigh, "IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!" Seriously, the game was started in 2017, restarted in 2019, and now 7 years from the original onset and 5 years from the restart, we finally get a subtitle, a cinematic trailer and a gameplay trailer. The game looks beautiful, so beautiful that some have speculate the game is playing on the Switch successor (but that's what they said about Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Wonder). Fans will have to wait a little bit longer, as it's not slated to release until 2025. I can see this game being like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - the last game on the Switch and the first game on the Switch successor. Nintendo yet again ends their Direct with a bang!

Nintendo was riding the nostalgia train pretty hard there. Of course there was all the collections, but a lot of these games were sequels to well-established franchises. Nintendo definitely has third-party support they have failed to achieve in previous years. It was nice to see games from Square Enix, Capcom, Ubisoft and Annapurna Interactive. The show was stolen, however, from their first-party games. Nintendo understands that exclusives sell console, so that's why they are always headlining. Yes, there were some questionable decisions, like the inclusion of Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. That's when they should have announced the 5 Mega Man games coming to Game Boy Online and the release date for the second Super Mario Bros. movie, instead of doing it days before the Direct. Don't be mistaken, though. All the negatives are outweighed by the positives. If it's a pure numbers game, Nintendo made the most announcements: 31 (and I'm combining the Dragon Quest Trilogy as 1 and all Nintendo Switch Online games as 1!), opposed to Xbox's 30 and PlayStation's 14. Nintendo's Direct seemed to also be the perfect middle time-wise. At a little over 40 minutes, it was longer than PlayStation's State of play, which was a little over 30 minutes, but under the Xbox Games Showcase, coming in at a whopping 75 minutes (not including the half-hour Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 segment directly after). With the most games in the middle amount of time, if this was E3 or Summer Games Fest, Nintendo would "win."

+Positives+: Strongest opening and closing in comparison to their competitors, bringing back franchises that do not have entries on the Switch, providing a substantial update to a long awaited Switch game, collections and remakes welcome a new audience to older games, utilize nostalgia in a positive way, thinking up new ways to take old franchises, continual updated support for Nintendo Switch Online, continual updates and DLC for those who already purchased games (especially the free ones), the suspense of all the "Take a look at this" moments, most games talked about, plenty of third-party support that Nintendo has lacked in the past

-Negatives-: time wasted by talking about 2 games coming out within a month's time, time wasted on Just Dance 2025 Edition because at this point it's assumed, only 4 games for Nintendo Switch Online, games meant for PS5 and Xbox Series taking an obvious graphical downgrade coming to Switch, too many announcements on updates and DLC that take away time from brand-new games, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom's art style, Super Mario Party Jamboree feels like 2 games' DLC combined as one
~Top 3 Games~: Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Super Mario Party Jamboree
*Medal*: Gold