I’ve played a few Zelda games. Started many, but have finished none. Not because I don’t enjoy them, it’s just that I find other games that I want to play. However, as soon as I started playing Minish Cap, I knew I was going to finish it.

I was immediately captivated by this universe’s charm and personality. And its gameplay gimmicks just deepened that interest even further. I’m a sucker for shrinking down in games and viewing the world from a bug’s perspective. Stomping through puddles may be fine when your normal sized, but they become giant oceans when you’re small! God I just think that’s cool.

It’s not perfect, however. I’d heard completing this game 100% was a death wish, and I was confused as to why. That was, until I was introduced to the figurine guy. I understood everything then. The game also slows its pace near the end in my opinion. The final dungeon just felt like it was throwing strong enemies at you over and over which was starting to get a little tedious.

But in the end, I finally completed a Zelda game. And I’m happy it turned out to be this one! Now I wish that the Minish could come back in a future title… Or we could see a remake of this game so it could get the recognition it deserves. Easily the most underrated Zelda from what I’ve seen. Maybe I’ll give the Oracle games a try next…

I didn’t have the nostalgia for this game since it was before my time, but I’ve wanted to give it a shot for a while. I was excited to hear that the game was getting a full-on remake as opposed to it being added to NSO.

And I gotta say, this did live up to my expectations! (In a good way)

Even though I’d never played the original, it still made me nostalgic, but for a different series. That series being Mario & Luigi. I actually wasn’t aware that the action commands present in M&L and Paper Mario were present here! It elevates the standard “click button and deal damage” gameplay of RPGs to a more interactive experience. Honestly, it’s hard to go back to that style when you grew up on M&L and action commands..

But what I really like about this game, is that it feels unique. I know Mario & Luigi games started to suffer from the NSMB takeover, where everything from Mario just felt spiritually the same for a bit. Going back to a Mario game that dares to venture out of the Mushroom Kingdom is such a breath of fresh air. And while the story isn’t insane, it still feels right at home within the Mario franchise! I love the new characters introduced as well. Mallow ended up being a favorite, the weapons were fun, Johnny was surprisingly cool, and.. Geno was also cool! Still don’t expect him to show up to Smash, but I enjoyed him.

I appreciate the new additions to this remake. Giving players the option to switch between the new soundtrack and the classic one is something ALL remakes should do. (The new renditions are great!) And the post-game rematches are a welcome addition! I only managed to beat a few before I just gave up, though. Booster is mean :(

If you want to give Super Mario RPG a try, I highly recommend this game! Just know that there are many secrets in this game, many of which drive some peeps insane. But why would you try to cheat in a really good game? That just sounds like crap and makes you look lame.

Honestly don’t know how to feel about this one. I’m not sure if I was right to feel frustrated with this game, or I’m out of practice since I haven’t played a Metroid game in a bit and I’m just bad. BUT, I seen a few other reviews that shared the exact same criticisms I had after I finished playing.

Compared to other Metroids I’ve played, this one felt too linear, and it felt like the game discouraged exploring to find extra upgrades. I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why I wasn’t having as much fun with this entry until I realized that Adam just yelled at me to go to the next objective instead of allowing me to look around a bit.

And the bosses were just plain unfair at times. Nightmare truly lives up to its name, because the true battle is with my lack of patience. Massive hurtbox + Limited screen space + Barely any place to actually hurt it = Not a fun time. Also, it just felt like Samus takes more damage in this game compared to others. I’ll attribute that to me being bad, and also not exploring to find extra energy tanks.

Edit: I forgot about how this games loves to make hidden pathways, that aren’t exactly obvious, the way you need to go to progress. Using your tools at dead ends is one thing, but having to look for a wall that you can walk through in order to let the animals escape is another.

Though, where this game excels is its setting and its story. This is where the mainline Metroid games really started to lean hard on its storylines. Maybe I just enjoy it because I’ve already played Dread and know where the story goes? I don’t know, but constantly being on your guard for an all-powerful, evil doppelganger was surely a way to fill me with dread.

I think I might have to replay this one in the future, picking up some more upgrades and relying on NSO’s cheater features less. For now though, this game is still solid despite its drawbacks.