This game is generally pretty fun and for the most part it's what you'd expect but the last few sections with the space station and the time traveling storyline shoot it up to legendary status.
I kinda love how despite being so early in the genre and the medium's life this game manages to convey a specific themeing of people coming together to fight against a higher power, which feels appropriate for a game where you control four characters at once - as the ending sequence says "the Four became One".
But it's not just the Four, it's everyone.
A lot of this game's story revolves around the player characters gaining favor with the people of the world and said people coming together to help them in return.
The game begins with the King of Corneria ordering the building of a bridge that the Light Warriors can use to continue on their journey, I don't think it's a coincidence that this monument to the cause built by the people the Light Warriors had just saved marks the game's opening text crawl and title sequence, as it's sort of emblematic of what the whole game is about.
Even at the end, when everyone has forgotten the deeds of the heroes, the legend lives on in the tales people pass among each other even when unsure of where it originated from, the propagation and survival of this story relies entirely on a community that's willing to share among themselves.
I dunno, it's kinda fun that the story here, despite being quite primitive and limited by the technology, still manages to have some cohesion and connective tissue - or at least as much of that as you're willing to get out of it I guess.

Surprised by the consensus on this game, I quite liked it.

Let's get the bad out of the way first - it's kind of ugly, they didn't have to make everyone this ugly but I guess it comes with the territory when you have a western studio handling a Japanese mascot character.
It's also less willing to push the envelope like the prior games did, like yeah, RKA starts out in a grassy field and medieval castle but that game ends on a spaceship with you fighting some kind of AI super computer - this one doesn't really have anything like that and you don't even fight Axel in a 1-on-1 giant mech battle, did these guys even play the other games past the first few levels?!

Well alright, now that that's done I wanna say that Sparkster controls absolutely wonderfully in this game, I love how the developers took all the weird control schemes he had in the prior games and mashed them together into something more cohesive and responsive.
Basically everything is accounted for here except for the dash move from the SNES game, movement's a little slower than usual but that ends up working to the game's benefit since there's a lot more emphasis on the collectathon element this time around (and by a lot more I just mean they keep a tally of what you collect in each level, it's not actually that significant)

The levels themselves are much meatier than prior games, which is to be expected from a sequel coming out 15 years later, there's less overall stages though which can end up making the game feel a tad short despite it taking almost double the amount of time to complete, but there's enough fun combat and platforming challenges here to keep you engaged, and nothing feels as haphazard as some of the gimmicks in the other sequels.

Do I think this game surpasses the original or even matches it? Well no, RKA has a lot of fun original ideas which this game kind of lacks and the faster pace of the gameplay and more focused level design gives it an energy that's kind of missing here too, but as someone who really did not click with the sequels to that game I think Rocket Knight 2010's attempt at creating an experience that still tries to encompass them is to be commended and it ends up making a game that I'd say is much greater than the sum of its parts.

This game makes the decision of having Sparkster's rocket pack constantly charging, which actually feels kind of inspired - in the original there was rarely a reason to not be charging the rocket during downtime, so I like that change here where it's simply a matter of releasing the automatic charge rather than having to charge it yourself.

Unfortunately every other aspect of Sparkster's moveset in this game has been absolutely gutted in favor of having you constantly zipping through the levels with the rocket, the walking speed is abysmally slow and just generally jumping, using your sword and hanging from tightropes just doesn't feel good to do at all.

It genuinely feels like a bootleg knock-off of the original - like, you know, it kind of tries to replicate all the stuff from the original game, but it was made in a sweatshop so they barely work and everything feels off since they couldn't actually replicate the nuances of the mechanics?

I couldn't stomach playing it for more than a few minutes.

Didn't really like this game that much.

Compared to the original it feels like it's throwing way too much stuff at the wall, the level design feels sparse and haphazardly thrown together with no sense of flow or connective tissue, they're going for like a Sonic-esque thing where there's multiple paths through the levels but it doesn't really feel appropriate for Sparkster's moveset which tends to be very stop and go.
The bosses also feel much less thought out this time around with it mostly just being a matter of throwing yourself at them and hoping you kill them before they kill you.

Another slight against this as a sequel to RKA is how the aesthetics just aren't nearly as nice - the colors are much more garish this time around and the level themes aren't as cohesive as they were in the original.

I made it as far as the robot fight against the rival knight before I gave up on the game, the shmup section took a huge hit and despite this game's overall faster pace it was sluggishly slow compared to the equivalent bits from the original, just the thought of having to go through the whole thing every time I die to the RNG robot boss fight fills me with dread.

It's a fine enough game I guess, if you've never played the original you might get more enjoyment out of it than I did, but as it is I think I'm fine with not touching Sparkster again for the time being.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with LittleBigPlanet 2.
Moreso than the first game, the campaign this time around is much more fantastical and imaginative, which, while fun, kind of robs the game of some of the quaint feeling its predecessor had - the original LittleBigPlanet is a globe-throtting adventure told through an arts and crafts project, this is just a full on sci-fi fantasy video game.
And that's like, fine.
All the characters are still demonstrably either dolls or made out of papercraft materials, we've just moved into a much more anthropomorphisized world.
It has its advantages and disadvantages, the game has a far greater focus on character writing with companions that follow you around the world and dedicated cutscenes between levels, your character is a part of a big ensemble cast which, while one-dimensional, is still suitably entertaining.
Do I kind of miss the tourist-y feel of the original game's campaign? Yeah, it lended itself better to the customization aspect of it all with your character being able to use the different outfits of the places they were visiting (a whole decade before Mario Odyssey did it too!), but this kind of goofy parody mixture between Star Wars and Ocean's 11 works well enough here and makes the game feel distinct from its predecessor.

As far as the actual levels are concerned they're often both very long and also have a tendency of feeling like tech demos more than anything, the game's more preoccupied with showing you all the cool ways in which you can use the new creator tools than it is in having a good coherent campaign, which results in more than a few dud levels across the campaign with gimmicks that maybe could have been left on the cutting room floor.

That said, it's hard to deny how much more fleshed out the customization and level creation in this game is, there's stuff here that's just outright coding language presented in a way to be easily understood and utilized by a kid and that's something to be commended - there were user-created levels in this game that would put some actual professional projects out there to shame.

Now did -I- use any of these amazing new tools that would let you take your creations to the next level? Well... no, I was a bit too dumb to wrap my head around it all and ultimately I just kinda wanted to make levels where you jump on stuff, which is where my bigger problem with the game arises: it's a bit TOO complex.
I realize that's kind of a nothing complaint, but I think there's some merit to it - LittleBigPlanet 2 increased the complexity of level creation to such a degree from the first game to the point where it stopped feeling like you could just pick the game up and make a fun level, anything you could make in a few hours with friends would just feel inadequate next to the gargantuant projects that smarter and more dedicated players could put together - is that a big of a skill issue on my part? Sure, but I think a game that's all about promoting creativity making it feel like your ideas aren't as good as other people's isn't exactly ideal.

Still, all of that said I had a grand time with this game as a kid and that's something I just can't brush aside, I can't think of a game since this one that allowed me to make so many friends and have fun all within the game itself with no outside input - it's likely that there'll never be anything quite like this again, and I'm glad that, despite the faults, I was there to experience it.

What a charming little game, a globe-throtting adventure through the lens of a child's arts and crafts project.
It's not the most mechanically demanding game, however its unorthodox physics-based control scheme and level design is unique enough to warrant a visit, even in its current stripped down state.

Of course that was never the main selling point of LittleBigPlanet as an experience, this was once a game with an ungodly amount of possibilities for self-expression - nearly every mechanic exists in the context of allowing you to customize everything around you, including the levels themselves.
It was kind of the perfect game for kids at the time, a place that allowed you to create your own ways to play and share them with others, both as hubs for them to experience by themselves and as things you can show to the people playing with you at that very moment.

I still enjoy going back to the game's campaign from time to time, it's very cute and charming, but nothing will ever quite match the heights of playing this with friends near and far on a summer afternoon.

Pokemon Ruby is a cool video game.
I think it might actually be my favorite Pokemon game, which is weird cause for the longest part of my life I always considered it kind of like the black sheep of the series in a way.
But after this most recent playthrough I found so much to enjoy here - all the new monsters are so cool and fun, it's so easy to just pick 6 favorites and go to town with them because of how much the game's constantly throwing at you, a stark contrast to its predecessors which would often hide some of the more appealing Pokemon behind ludicrous or time consuming requirements.

One thing I really want to highlight about this game is the world itself, in a lot of ways Pokemon Ruby feels like the most fantastical Pokemon game.
It's very easy for the world in Pokemon to feel relatively small and compact, you always know you're never too far away from civilization so the games never tend to stop feeling like you're just a kid playing around the outskirts of town.
In Pokemon Ruby though, while the game does start out feeling like this, it quickly throws you into a bunch of cool and out there locales that really makes you feel like you're going on an adventure, from a town built on the back of a volcano, to a small civilization living in tree huts in the middle of a rainforest, to a city built around a giant coral reef in the middle of the ocean housing a great legendary being underneath - this game takes Pokemon from an urban fantasy to, well, a full on fantasy, and it really helps with the way the story this time focuses way more on myths, legends and powerful god-like creatures rather than the petty material conquests of the past games.
The whole game just has this really cool and mystical vibe that I think complements Pokemon incredibly well.
I know part of the appeal of the franchise is the idea that Pokemon exist in our world, but part of me wonders what could be done with a game that goes full throttle on the fantasy aspects of the Pokeon world, even more than Ruby already does.

Ruby also brings with it some new gameplay mechanics, though I'm somewhat mixed on these to be quite honest.
First off, natures and abilities are introduced here, and while I think they're a good idea in concept - I really like that you can have the option of having Pokemon specialize in different stats and that they can have these extra passive abilities - having it all be tied to RNG just feels like it's overcomplicating the process of teambuilding and catching Pokemon.
I said earlier that it's easy to pick 6 favorite Pokemon and just run with them, but that's provided you're lucky enough for those 6 Pokemon to get the RNG stat distribution that you're happy with, same with the specific Pokemon that happen to have more than one ability.
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that this stuff is game breaking obviously, you can more than get by with sub-par natures and abilities, but if you're like me and enjoy knowing that you're playing with the best you possibly can then don't be surprised if you find yourself catching dozens of the same Pokemon just to find an acceptable one.
Kind of goes against the fantasy of finding this cool new monster and befriending it when you're just farming the whole species.

But that's really just a small drop in the ocean of amazing things this game has going for it, though the star of the show really is just the Hoenn region itself and how well realized it is as a game world.

I don't really have anything profound to say about this game, just that I think it gets kind of a bad rap unnecessarily just off of people going into it with the wrong expectations.
I can understand the frustration with this game where a lot of the Pokemon don't really seem to get great moves for the typings they have, but I think it's kinda missing the forest for the trees a bit - yeah your Scyther isn't getting any cool bug moves, but that doesn't stop it from being an amazing monster that decimates stuff with its normal-type attack and stats that complement them, Slowbro doesn't learn a lot of good water moves but it can learn Psychic and Earthquake and it's also incredibly tanky for how potent those moves are.
There's a flexibility to the kinds of builds you can do in Generation 1 that feels really good once you start getting deeper into it and I actually find it just as compelling as any other RPG.

I also wanna give props to the region design, the way that the second half of the game takes you all over the map in a totally organic way is so cool and the flexibility it affords you in how you can approach the game was incredibly satisfying.
I did a 150/150 Pokemon run for this and I was honestly dreading having to rethread ground in Pokemon Blue just for the sake of the exclusives (two of them being Pokemon you can only get on the very last area of the game) only to find that, because of how interconnected and non-linear the region was, I could absolutely make my way to the last area of the game after only an hour or two - that's the kind of thing that's just not possible in other Pokemon games and it's kind of exhilerating figuring out the best route to do this in while wasting as little time as possible.

That's basically it, I don't have a lot of poetic to wax about this game cause frankly it just doesn't hit any kind of emotional beats that I find worth mentioning.
The designs are pretty cool, I actually kinda like some of the weird gnarly sprites in this game more than the more standardized look some of these monsters would end up adopting as the series went on - Parasect's aura in future games is not nearly as strong as it is here.