Brian
2019
cute!
2023
A deeply odd mishmash of graphical styles, character designs and storytelling styles—but it's a very charming mishmash. This game really expanded the characterizations of mario, peach and especially bowser and set the table for the next 30 years of the entire mario franchise. hell, even the movie relies on some of the track laid here.
i played this game only once before (in 2002 or so) so i don't remember it vividly. the remake looks great and captures that very specific Donkey Kong Country-esque graphical style. didn't really care for the music with a few exceptions.
i played this game only once before (in 2002 or so) so i don't remember it vividly. the remake looks great and captures that very specific Donkey Kong Country-esque graphical style. didn't really care for the music with a few exceptions.
Fawful really steals the show here—he's legitimately funny in a way that Mario games don't often attain. Playing this on Switch Online and abusing the rewind to max EXP and damage with Bonus Ring/Great Force really made this quite easy and a lot more fun than getting owned by Bowletta for hours. I did it legit back in '03 so don't yell at me
it's still a sluggish, heavy-feeling 3D platformer with a fair amount of jank but with much less of those things than in the first game. it's a huge level-up from fallen order, with way more player freedom, areas to explore and shit-talking stormtroopers to dismember in increasingly creative ways.
like fallen order, this game makes spectacularly effective use of the star wars IP. you get the grimy, rusted mystery of the OT (some exploration areas utterly captured my imagination despite being completely unrelated to the progression or story) alongside the goofy humor and grandiose bombast of the PT. the music and sound are a huge part of this–no surprise since they were exceptional in the first game as well. and i can't mention the music without bringing up the excellent cantina soundtrack. altin gün just knocked it out of the park- their songs are perfect. perfect!!
about 3 hours in i switched this to the lowest difficulty level and my enjoyment went through the roof. i dont mind a challenge but i'm not going to bang my head against a wall to fight 2 stormtroopers or a group of space chickens when i'm trying to live out my jedi fantasies. it was really fun to get through most bosses the first time and get swept up in the momentum of the story, which was... pretty good! nothing groundbreaking but i understood where they were going thematically and i was surprised at the affection i had for characters like greez and cere by the end. i enjoyed the cameos from well-known characters, although i was a little surprised that there weren't more, but it's not a major issue since that tendency is something i don't appreciate in other SW content.
i spent way too much time customizing my lightsaber, outfit, facial hair, blaster and bd-1. hours! hopefully this is something that will be even more robust in the third game.
since it's new years', let's do an in/out list for the third game.
IN:
• Emotional Speeder Bike Chases
• Just walking around vibing with Merrin
• Stormtrooper dialogue
• Pitchfork-worthy space jams on the cantina jukebox
• Wall-running on a Coruscant billboard
• Stacked voice acting ensemble. Hearing DiMaggio, Tatasciore, Mercer and Horovitz brought a smile to my face many times.
OUT:
• Battling creatures
• Swamps/mud planets
• Inexplicable adam sandler references
• Singing children
like fallen order, this game makes spectacularly effective use of the star wars IP. you get the grimy, rusted mystery of the OT (some exploration areas utterly captured my imagination despite being completely unrelated to the progression or story) alongside the goofy humor and grandiose bombast of the PT. the music and sound are a huge part of this–no surprise since they were exceptional in the first game as well. and i can't mention the music without bringing up the excellent cantina soundtrack. altin gün just knocked it out of the park- their songs are perfect. perfect!!
about 3 hours in i switched this to the lowest difficulty level and my enjoyment went through the roof. i dont mind a challenge but i'm not going to bang my head against a wall to fight 2 stormtroopers or a group of space chickens when i'm trying to live out my jedi fantasies. it was really fun to get through most bosses the first time and get swept up in the momentum of the story, which was... pretty good! nothing groundbreaking but i understood where they were going thematically and i was surprised at the affection i had for characters like greez and cere by the end. i enjoyed the cameos from well-known characters, although i was a little surprised that there weren't more, but it's not a major issue since that tendency is something i don't appreciate in other SW content.
i spent way too much time customizing my lightsaber, outfit, facial hair, blaster and bd-1. hours! hopefully this is something that will be even more robust in the third game.
since it's new years', let's do an in/out list for the third game.
IN:
• Emotional Speeder Bike Chases
• Just walking around vibing with Merrin
• Stormtrooper dialogue
• Pitchfork-worthy space jams on the cantina jukebox
• Wall-running on a Coruscant billboard
• Stacked voice acting ensemble. Hearing DiMaggio, Tatasciore, Mercer and Horovitz brought a smile to my face many times.
OUT:
• Battling creatures
• Swamps/mud planets
• Inexplicable adam sandler references
• Singing children