Prime 3 offers a lot of quality of life improvements to the formula while keeping most of the best parts from the first two games. It's not my favorite in the trilogy, but it's pretty good.

I played the trilogy through the wii collection, and gameplay wise, it plays just as good as the first two games for the most part. There was the occasional jank, mostly involving the new grapple pull technique during the more intense fights. The nunchuck just wouldn't recognize the second half of the pull sometimes which made a few fights drag a bit.

The game is much more combat focused than the first two games in general, to mixed success. Combat has never been the prime games' biggest strength, but it's alright here for the most part. Fights can drag on a little too long, if you don't rely on hyper mode. Hyper mode ended up being my "ok I'm tired of this fight and I just wanna move on feature. Fortunately, this didn't happen too often, it only ever reached that point for me when the smaller enemies started using hyper mode on me or with the enemies with annoying hitboxes. Enemies tend to move faster and in some cases a bit more sporadic than the first two prime games. This can lead to more intense fights, but it also resulted in the lock on system being a bit finicky on certain enemies (i.e., the aerotroopers). This can be annoying when the game throws endless hordes of enemies at you and you've got to re target the flying enemy while being swarmed.

The improved combat is especially true for the bosses. For the most part, all the bosses in prime 3 are pretty solid (if a little on the easy side). I don't think any of the bosses reach the heights of the best bosses from 2, but they're all much better than the huge health bar, damage sponges from prime 1.

Most of the returning power ups are at their best in prime 3. Everything just feels most fluid and fun to control. The screw attack in particular feels less stiff than prime 2, and you can course correct a bit if you take off at an awkward angle. Prime 3 keeps the improved scan visor from prime 2 and I really love the new x ray visor. However some power ups felt a little more awkward to use. The seeker missiles in particular felt more hit or miss to me than the previous games, and there were multiple instances of me targeting each object, but the seeker missiles not working just I wasn't standing in the exact right spot.

Prime 3 kind of reminds me of fusion, and not just with some of the similar power ups. The environments are a lot more linear than the first two prime games in a way that feels like a nice mix of fusions linear level design and the looping level design from prime 2. Instead of having one really large planet to explore like the first two prime games, prime 3 gives lots of smaller scale, more linear looping set pieces across multiple planets which I think worked out really well. I think the new design helps streamline the exploration and reduce backtracking (although if I had to pick, I would rather have a game structured more like prime 2 with the quality of life improvements of prime 3).

The best improvements of all though are how prime 3 handles item tracking and the final maguffin sidequest. You can unlock a map upgrade that actually shows you where collected and missing items are on each planet with saves so much time when you're trying to find those last few upgrades you missed. The final maguffin sidequest is vastly improved as well. You no longer need all of them to finish the game (but they are all still required for 100% completion) and you can get pretty much all of them through normal thorough exploration (I think I only had to backtrack to get 1 of them and it probably took less than 5 minutes).

Prime 3 does a lot of world building as well which was really cool to see. It was nice seeing other bounty hunters and members of the federation, even if they were underutilized.

There were some other things that frustrated me with the game. I really don't like the removal of being able to scan things when you're receiving a transmission. I can't count how many times I was in the middle of scanning when a transmission would come in, stopping me from being able to finish scanning everything in the room until I opened the map and watched the slow animation. There were a few times where the doors would not open for an extended period of time so the game. It didn't really bother me, until I booted up prime 1 again to get the last logbook scan I missed on my first play through and I never ran into this issue at all.

I also wish dark samus were more present in the story. She has some good lore scans and I like her boss, but she doesn't feel as prominent in the story for being the big bad, especially compared to prime 2.

Prime 3 also has the weakest soundtrack of the trilogy. It's not bad, but it focuses more on ambiance and doesn't have as many memorable melodies as the first two prime games.

The game is also really mean at times with missable scans. You really gotta be thorough with your scan visor if you wanna 100% the logbook in this game and there are a lot of instances of certain enemy types only appearing the first time you clear a room. Needing to scan the hunters before you enter the elevator on Norion is also really mean for first time players. I managed to 100% the logbook, but I tend to scan every little thing. If you're gonna go for 100% scans I really recommend using a reference to make sure you don't miss any of the permanant missable scans (use the metroid recon logbook guide and DO NOT use the wikitroid guide. The wikitroid guide list a few scans as missable when they aren't even in the logbook and I've never felt more panic than thinking I permanently missed a scan from the very start of the game when I was doing my endgame item/scan cleanup).

Overall, I really liked prime 3. The prime games are a series where you could tell me any game is your favorite and I could understand why. It's probably my least favorite of the trilogy (neither game comes close to prime 2 for me), but the least good 3D metroid game is still a really great game.

Very solid way to experience SH2. I would not recommend you play it via 360 backwards compatibility though. There are a lot of visual glitches that can be very distracting. On my last playthrough, Eddie's face didn't properly render in and he looked like the pillsbury doughboy for the entire second half of the game which made his scenes really funny.

Born from a wish is a good addition which develops one of the characters in an interesting way.

The only other differences that are worse than the original ps2 version or the enhanced edition are that the cutscenes are lower quality and run at a slower framerate and the lighting system is different (although its not noticeable if you haven't played the original).

It's still Silent Hill 2, so the game is still amazing. There really isn't a bad way to play this game besides the hd collection.

Needed to take a break from the other games I'm playing so I figured I'd just play my favorite game of all time again.

Played it on NSO for the first time and the game is still amazing, but it doesn't feel the same as playing it on the actual SNES (also why is the button mapping normal for the dkc games on NSO, but weird for the 2D mario games??). Not the worst way to experience the game if you haven't played it before, but I'm probably gonna stick to playing the actual cart in the future.

If you haven't played DKC 2 before, you should (as well as the entire trilogy) as soon as possible. I always recommend going for 102% (or at least going for all the bonus rooms) since you unlock the secret world and secret final boss. Just a heads up though, if you're new to the game, don't save all the secret world levels for after the non-secret final boss. You gotta reload your save after that fight and you start with 5 lives vs however many you would normally accumulate throughout a normal playthrough and you don't want to try those levels with so few lives on your first time.

The first time I played Mario 2, I was surprised at how fun it was. It holds up much better than Mario 1 and is still really solid today.

The terrible Mario 1 physics are gone and game plays so much better for it. All the characters are much faster and a little more slippery feeling which makes the platforming a lot faster paced and fun.

The game looks really nice and the new characters are really cool. I tried to use everyone a few times, but I mostly stuck to Toad and Mario. The new moveset takes some getting used to at first, but they provide a nice variety in platforming by allowing the game to have vertical levels. The soundtrack is really nice too (although I wish there were a few more tracks).

The game still has some jank, but it's nowhere near game ruining. For example, in most circumstances, you cannot hit the run button to prepare for a jump when standing on a floating projectile. I also never got fully used to the throwing physics in this game, there were many instances where I wanted to throw it further, but I guess I wasn't moving fast enough for the game to register it as a throw, so mario would just play whatever project/object I was holding in front of him. Additionally, if I was trying to throw something mid air while underneath a platform, Mario would place the projectile on the upper platform instead of throwing it at the boss or enemy. The blast radius of the bombs were a little janky at times too. The bombs bounce and if they bounce a small distance off a wall or if they bounce up before exploding a bombable floor piece, the wall/floor are not gonna explode your target.

It's not too hard to adjust to these issues, but it does take some time, especially if you've played a lot of Mario maker 2 like I have. That game fine tuned the Mario bros 2 controls and physics to fix some of the jank from the original game, but the gameplay/physics differences is nowhere near as drastic between MM2 and the Mario bros 1.

Overall, Mario 2 is still a really good time. It holds up much better than you would expect and controls so much better than it's two predecessors. It's still not perfect, but it obviously stands out as being unique from the other 2D Mario games and is still very much worth playing today.

Mario land 2 is really neat! It keeps a lot of the really weird and unique enemy types and design quirks from the first Mario land while providing a more polished and fun experience (as far as I know, this is the only Mario game where finding a 1-up in a item box has a chance to spawn a tiny witch that tries to steal it from you).

The world and level themes are all super cool and I can see why some of them were revisited in future Mario games. All the levels are really well designed too. I don't think there were any themes or set pieces that I found particularly annoying like in the original Mario land. It was really cool to play a non-linear 2D Mario game as well.

The controls also feel pretty unique compared to the other 2D Mario games. Mario requires a bit of build up to reach top speed which can be a little annoying at times when you have to make precise jumps on small platforms. However, when Mario gets going he really moves. He's really fast and slippery and floaty to the point where he controls sort of similar to Luigi in the modern Mario games and it can be really fun zooming through levels. The only other time the controls didn't really work for me were in the underwater levels. For the most part the underwater controls are fine, but there are a few instances in the turtle world where you have to walk underneath enemies to avoid them and Mario just moves way too slow for me when walking underwater.

The new power ups are super cool as well and I'm surprised they haven't shown up in something like the Mario maker games. I really appreciate the game uses the tiered power up system from future games. It was a little annoying learning that collecting a mushroom while having a tier 3 power up downgrades you back to super Mario, but it's ultimately not a big deal and easily avoidable once you know about it. The final boss is also really cool and a unique use of the power ups.

Mario Land 2 is just pretty solid. The controls still haven't reached that perfect spot for me yet, but they were never overly frustrating to deal with and the levels account for them very well for the most part.

Why was this considered the black sheep of the series? Metroid 2 holds up a lot better than expected and is way more fun to play than NEStroid. Going for 100% is satisfying and feels rewarding since it makes the later metroids much more manageable.

I really liked the environmental storytelling. I already knew metroid 2's story going in, but the way the planet works and interacts with you throughout is engaging and still provides a nice level of mystery. The ending is really good too, but it felt a little underwhelming without the little additions made is Super's recap. It's still effective, but I'm not sure it would have the same effect on someone going into the game blind and without any prior knowledge of Super's opening.

The controls are a lot better and Samus is starting to feel a lot closer to how she did in super and fusion. Samus is still a little slow but she's just the right amount of floaty and weighty that was missing from the NES original. It's really cool seeing how many series staple upgrades came from this game (even if they can be a little janky). Being able to crouch and shoot downward make the game so much more fun than NEStroid and help fix a lot of those games' issues that should never have been present in the first place.

There are a few little controls quirks that annoyed me but nothing overly frustrating or game ruining. I never fully got used to not being able to activate the morph ball in midair and activating/deactivating the spider ball can be a little janky. The space jump timing feels pickier than later games and took some time to get used to. I also didn't like how if you messed up the space jump timing or were in the air for too long, Samus would uncrouch and you couldn't do anything to recover. This made using the screw attack to deflect bosses a little janky at times and is something that NEStroid does better. It was also a little awkward trying to short hop to shoot enemies at first since samus crouches mid air and you end up shooting a little lower than you'd initially expect. This only happens during the ascending part of the jump and isn't a big deal overall, but I'm happy future games fixed it.

The multiple missile and health recharge stations are very much appreciated and provide a nice way to reward exploration and eliminate the need for tedious grinding sessions.

The bosses are about on par with the NES original since they're all pretty much just missile sponges in those games. The bosses in metroid 2 have a few different attack patterns which makes them a little more engaging than NEStroid's bosses but none of them are as engaging as the bosses in the future entries.

The soundtrack is alright, but definitely a downgrade from the first games. The only track I really like is the SR388 surface theme which is one of the best themes in the entire series. The soundtrack tries to be more atmospheric and contribute to the storytelling and it's very effective towards the end of the game with the final area and the final walk to the surface, but tracks like the ruins were a little too short and repetitive for me.

Overall, Mettroid 2 is a decent time. It feels like a really big improvement on the first and there was never a point where I had to force myself to keep playing like with NEStroid. It's really interesting to see the series develop, but future entries do a lot of what it does better.

Easily the best of the modern pokemon games I've played (I haven't played scarlet/violet yet). The new gameplay loop is really fun to the point where this was the first pokemon game I've ever actually wanted to 100%.

I wish the game were more polished overall though. I don't usually care about graphics, but this game gets really bad at times. I can deal with the random pop-ins when flying around the areas, but the weird tracing issues (especially bad when in caves) are just baffling.

I have a few other smaller issues with the game like the random invisible walls in the sky, the main character really can't handle inclines of any size which can be annoying when you're trying to sneak over a tiny incline to avoid scaring a pokemon, and the main character's run speed is a little too slow for me. It's not a big deal when you're out exploring the areas since you'll probably be riding a pokemon, but when you're in town or in a place where you have to travel somewhat long distances and can't ride anything it gets a little annoying, especially when you're trying to get somewhere far away from a teleportation spot.

Overall, I had a really fun time with PLA though and I hope future pokemon games use this as a template (and hopefully future games will be more polished).

This might be one of the first cozy platformers ever made.
Yoshi's island probably has my favorite art style of any SNES game and it's got one of my favorite videogame soundtracks ever.

I've started Yoshi's island multiple times, and I loved playing it every time. Unfortunately, something would always come up and cause me to drop the game before I could make significant progress. I recently managed to find a cart for pretty cheap and decided to finally finish it.

The controls feel just right, and the level design provides a good variety of different platforming challenges without the need to resort to gimmicks that drastically change the gameplay style, that games like Crash 3 suffer from. The bosses are also super creative and fun little puzzles to figure out and the final boss is really good and surprisingly tense.

Going for 100% wasn't as bad as I thought it would be considering how much I've heard people complain about it. However, I'm not sure I'd say it's worth it in the end since you don't get much for it, but if you find a particular level to be too easy, I'd recommend trying to 100% it to add a good challenge. The only times the 100% experience didn't work for me were the instances where an enemy holding a red coin would spawn off screen and fly away by the time I reached it (which wasn't super often) and missing a secret in one of the big nonlinear cave levels because I stood a few pixels off from the spot that reveals the secret.

Yoshi's island is still very worth playing and one of the comfiest and most charming 2D platformers out there. I'd say it's better than Mario World, cause the controls clicked for me more.

I'm gonna try to keep this as short and vague as I can because if you're reading this you should play Investigations 2 as soon as you can!

Experiencing everything blind is the best way to go for this. If you've liked an ace attorney game you will probably get a lot of it. I would recommend playing through the original trilogy and investigations 1 to have full context of the characters.

I'm not sure if this is my favorite ace attorney game yet, but it's definitely my favorite story of any of the games I've played in the series so far and you should find a way to experience it yourself!

This is just gonna be a review of the DLCs since I already reviewed the main game on the original RE5 page. I played through the DLCs co-op with my cousin after we finished the main game.

Lost in Nightmares:
It's really cool seeing the spencer mansion in the new camera style and with the updated graphics. I still haven't finished any version of RE1, but it was cool recognizing a lot of the areas from the remake. Puzzles felt pretty basic even for RE5, but it did have a QTE piano playing section which was really funny. The section in the flooded basement/cellar area was kind of annoying, the big guys kept going after the person cranking, but we were also playing this at 2 am while we were both really tired so we were also probably not playing as well as we could have. The Wesker fight was fun and gave us some trouble too, partly from us being dumb and messing around and partly from the timing of the QTE's being a lot stricter in comparison to the rest of the game.

Overall it was fun and felt like a good homage and fan service to the original RE.

Desperate Escape:

Same over the top-goofy fun but dumb action gameplay from the main game. It's a nice little addition to helps complete a different part of the story and Jill and Josh's moves are somehow even more goofy and over the top than Chris and Sheva's. It fit right in with the main game. Ending section got a little annoying cause we were tired and kept dying in the last stretch, but that additional time reveal was funny and the RE helicopter curse is very real.

Both DLCs are nice little additions to the HD remaster and you should play through them if you had fun with the main game.

RE5 is a fun game if you play co-op. Played the hd remaster split screen co-op with my cousin and we finished it over 3 days. I can't say anything about playing solo, but I've heard nothing but horror stories from people who tried playing this with the AI so I'd recommend to play with another person if you can.

At its best RE5 is just as fun as RE4, but it never surpasses it. A lot of RE5 is very derivative of RE4. 5 borrows a lot of iconic set pieces and enemy types from 4 without making any significant changes besides the setting.

The tone is all over the place with 5 as well. It's very funny and enjoyable throughout, but I felt like I was laughing at the game a majority of the time then with it. The original 4 RE games are cheesy but that helped give those games a charm and unique identity and game across more tongue and cheek in 4 in particular. RE5 feels like it's taking this cheesy moments more seriously and stuff like constant freeze frames and slow motion replays of the "epic" moments don't come across as self aware (although they are still very funny). The infamous funny moments are just as funny playing through them even if you've seen them thousands of times (boulder punching, throwing eggs at wesker, etc.).

As far as controls go it controls like a faster paced RE4. The faster paced controls help make the game feel a little more fluid than RE4 and the enemies all move faster and are more aggressive to compensate for this. The faster controls made it easier to keep up with the faster moving bosses as well. Headshots are still just as satisfying to pull off and the new follow up attacks to staggered enemies are really funny and over the top. Overall I'd say the game is easier than RE4 with nothing coming as close to the hardest sections from the game (e.g. water hall, novistador dome, etc.). The QTE's also felt less prominent than in RE4 and the timing of most of them felt more forgiving than 4 with a few exceptions (i.e. dodging Wesker's punches in the DLC).

Overall I had a good time with RE5. I'm happy I'd play it and I'd probably play it again with someone if they asked me to. Even if it feels very samey but lesser to RE4 in a lot of ways I can't deny that 5 is a good time co-op. Plus it has Wesker at his cheesiest and funniest and I just love that guy.

Please do not start with this game if you want to get into metroid! If you want to experience the first game in the timeline, play Zero Mission (the remake of this game), or if you want to start with a more linear experience start with Fusion. The only reason anyone should play this game today is if you are already a metroid fan and you really wanna see how the series started cause this game is not good. Plus if you play Zero Mission and you still feel the need to play this game, Zero Mission includes an emulation of the original metroid with its only unlock requirement being beating an actual good metroid game.

The lag and sprite flickering are annoying and slow down the pace of the game even more than its already slow gameplay. Being unable to shoot downward or crouch also make actually hitting enemies really obnoxious to the point where it's not worth trying to hit anything until you get either the screw attack or the wave beam. I haven't played the og metroid 2 yet, but I am pretty confidant that the simple addition of being about the crouch and shoot downward already make it much better than NEStroid.

The screw attack is by far the best upgrade in the game and greatly improves its playability but its also really janky. It feels like it doesn't work about 30% of the time which really adds up in a game that will require you to grind for health or missiles at some point if you are going for 100% like I did. The drop rates for health and missiles especially are also terrible. The missile drop rate is randomly decided when you entire a room and once you hit that random cap, no more missiles will drop until you enter a new room. This random number can be as low as 0, so if you're really unlucky with the rng you can spend as long as 30-40 minutes grinding for missiles and health.

Exploration is pretty bad as well. I didn't have trouble navigating without a map since I've played Zero Mission many times, but NEStroid has so many "hidden" paths that lead nowhere and there are many areas which would have greatly benefited from some sort of hidden shortcut to reduce the amount of backtracking or taking overly long routes to what should be an easy to reach destination or item. A bunch of the rooms have the exact same layout too which can get confusing if you're not keeping track of where you're going or if you're unfamiliar with the general metroid 1 map layout.

As far as positives go, most of the music still holds up really well. Brinstar and Kraid are obvious highlights, but tracks like Norfair and the escape sequence are also pretty solid. The only track I really don't like is Ridley since I think the loop is too short so it gets really annoying.

I cannot stress enough, do not play this unless you really need to know how the series started. That's the only reason why I finally got myself through it after multiple attempts over the years. It's a game a have a lot of respect for since it started one of my favorite videogames series, but I'm never playing it again since Zero Mission completely replaces this game.