There's not much I can say about Super Smash Bros Ultimate that hasn't been said more eloquently by others. It's the apex of the long-running crossover platform-fighter series; it serves as a loving tribute not just to Nintendo, but to video games as a medium. It remains my favorite game to play locally with friends and I think it really speaks to the game's strengths that I can lose 100 matches in a row and still have fun. Super Smash Bros only flaws are having inconsistent online and not making Waluigi playable. I'd love for the game to be rereleased with all the dlc and updates on a cartridge, so the finished game isn't lost to time.

The second best re-skin of Panel de Pon that the western world ever got. It was topped by Planet Puzzle League for the Nintendo DS only because that game had online play with randoms (rip). Pokemon Puzzle League takes the gameplay previously seen in the Super Nintendo's Tetris Attack, removes the Yoshi aesthetic and replaces it with a Pokemon theme. How much you enjoy the change will depend on your love for Gen 1 & 2 of Pokemon and the early seasons of the anime. But the meaty puzzle gameplay is what keeps me coming back. It could be themed after Bubsy and I'd still enjoy it.

The puzzle-sliding-chain-combo gameplay is perfect here, and there is a LOT of single player content. This Panel de Pon/Puzzle League installment also features a 3D mode where you are given an cylindrical tube to play on instead of the normal flat screen. A fun game that I have a lot of nostalgia for. However, Pokemon Puzzle League failed to innovate from Tetris Attack imo. There is no 4 player mode despite being on a system with 4 controller ports built in. This would be introduced in the next console installment, but only in Japan. I'd love to see this series resurrected, with any or no theme at all. I think it would be perfect for Nintendo's "99" series of online multiplayer titles. It's currently available on Nintendo Switch Online, with online friend multiplayer!

Pool Blitz has everything a good modern billiards simulator needs: great physics, graphics that pop, easy to learn controls, free-to-play and a healthy online player base with crossplay. Unfortunately the game is infested with microtransactions, and not just cosmetic ones.

If a player had unlimited income, they could buy enough loot chests to find cues with game-breaking special abilities (i.e. homing shots, softer black ball hits etc.). This seems like it would wreck the experience, but in the 100+ matches I played with randoms literally everyone was using basic pool cues. Does the game match like this intentionally? It's possible, but then why the glut of loot crates and pay-to-win upgrades? I know some will dismiss my theory, but I just think everyone playing is staying away from the junk and just enjoying the free vanilla experience. I could see things getting difficult at very high tournament levels, but there's nothing stopping a player from going back to the beginner tournaments. This stops being a problem entirely if you want to play online with friends.

Essentially, this game is like the old trope of the scarecrow that becomes a roost for crows when they aren't stealing corn. Its designated marks have become wise to the situation. So I'd say this game is worth the free download, just don't waste your money on loot boxes. And definitely don't let kids play unsupervised if your money is connected to your account. I've played better pool simulators but their online community was always DOA. So I'll definitely be coming back to Pool Blitz, warts and all.

Cat Burglar describes itself as a trivia game, but it's really an interactive cartoon that takes heavy inspiration from theatrical animated shorts of the early 20th century. The style is very reminiscent of the cartoons put out by MGM and Warner Brothers (Tom & Jerry, Droopy Dog, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies). Cat Burglar has very little substance as a game, but as a fan of the aforementioned cartoons I laughed a lot. The trivia is just an excuse to determine whom will be the victim of hilariously violent slapstick, the titular Cat Burgler or Peanut the Guard Dog. You are given 3 "lives" to answer 3 trivia questions correctly. If you fail (kill the cat) 3 times, the cartoon starts over. The animation is stunning and the music is very Carl Stalling-esque. It even puts a filter over the animation to make it feel like its been put to film.

Cat Burglar provides a LOT of comedic scenarios that change depending on your trivia answers, encouraging you to play through a minimum of 5 times to get all the "good" endings. Even after unlocking these I played again several times and lost on purpose just to see what gags I had missed. Again, while there is very little gameplay here, I encourage any and all slapstick/animation fans to check this out if you have access to Netflix.

Disclaimer, I have never played the original Gameboy Advance game that this is based on. However I did recently play the Gameboy game colloquially called Donkey Kong '94 that this game is a sequel to. I enjoyed it very much, and this game takes that formula and eliminates any sluggishness that came with that title being released on rudimentary hardware. This game takes the fun of the original Donkey Kong arcade game and perfects it for home consoles. The puzzles are fair, although some of the final levels are brow-furrowing. I'd say this game is a must play for anyone who enjoys arcade-style platformers. The only caveat I would mention is that if you are more familiar with Mario's more recent platforming adventures i.e. Super Mario Wonder, you may be disappointed. But players should keep in mind that this is a remake of a 20 year old game that was a sequel to a 30 year old game that itself was a sequel to a 42 year old game! I loved Mario vs. Donkey Kong so much I 100%'ed everything, something I haven't done in a substantial game in years. Also glad Nintendo is selling it at a budget price, a rare consumer friendly move from them.

Limited Run Games really phoned in this re-release. There are no English instructions, so the games mechanics are just guesswork unless you google the controls. Save states and rewind are implemented, but very poorly. You have to act fast if you want to actually utilize them. This is all a shame, because the original game's sprite work is beautiful even today. The colorization is a little oversaturated, but not awful. I'd always heard good things about the original Trip World, maybe I'll pick this back up if I ever meet someone who can clearly explain how to accomplish specific goals the game sets for the player but does not explain.

A decent fixed-camera 3D platformer with an emphasis on speed that is unfortunately bogged down with a tedious text heavy story and some minor glitches. Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara is apparently a spin-off of a farming sim, which explains why the story assumes you are already familiar with the game's world and npcs. Perhaps this will be fun for people who are fans of the franchise, but for a noobie like me it felt like watching a fourth season episode of a tv drama that I'd never seen. But when the plot isn't shoving itself in your face, the platforming levels are well designed and a lot of fun. The music and sound design is great too. I just wish the game had a bit more polish. On multiple occasions my character got stuck in something or stayed floating in the air until I died. The boss battles are pretty mediocre too. I'd say play this game if you're a big fan of games like Super Mario 3D Land/World, New Super Lucky's Tale or Sackboy: A Big Adventure. Just wait for a sale and keep in mind this game doesn't reach the same heights as the aforementioned titles.

Atari 50 is advertised as a retro game collection, but I think it's best described as an interactive documentary about Atari's game history. The collection contains 100+ games. While that sounds like a bonanza the truth is that most of these games have not aged well, although I'll list my favorites at the end of this log. But each one is accompanied by an encyclopedic blurb describing every game's history, development, game manual, box art etc. There are also video interviews with past Atari developers and from recognizable names in the gaming industry. While there is fun to be had here, Atari 50 is really about telling the story of Atari's early years (which by extension were also the first years of gaming) and the environment they were created in.

I think the thing that impresses me the most about Atari 50 is that it doesn't try to mask itself in nostalgia. It's here to educate you on gaming history, and that involves telling some harsh truths. The blurbs and interviews are very frank and honest about how many Atari games were rushed and not always great products. This contributed to the video game crash in the 80s that almost destroyed the industry. To see a brand reflect on both the good and bad parts of its history is increasingly rare and Atari 50 is all the better for it. I really recommend Atari 50, as unusual as it is. I can't remember the last time a game collection was packaged with such polish and TLC. I'd love to see this format done with other long running gaming publishers/developers like Namco or Konami or even Nintendo. Although that last one is probably a pipe dream (Get it?).

Games worth seeking out in Atari 50:
Black Widow, Centipede, Millipede, Food Fight and Quantum for arcades
RealSports Boxing and Aquaventure for the Atari 2600
Millipede for the Atari 5200
Dark Chambers and Ninja Golf for the Atari 7800
Ruiner Pinball for the Atari Jaguar
Neo Breakout, a new take on Breakout developed for Atari 50 by Digital Eclipse

A rip-off of the popular Nintendo Switch exclusive indie title Suika Game, Big Watermelon Match is a soulless attempt at chasing a trend. It removes everything that made SG fun: The designs are ugly, there are no leaderboards, and your biggest fruit is constantly spinning counterclockwise. I think this is an attempt to shuffle your fruit pieces around in an attempt to avoid the frustrating situation the og game sometimes presented when 2 fruits just would not touch. But it rarely works as intended.

While Big Watermelon Match is a lesser experience than Suika Game in every way (touch screen support being the only real improvement) my thoughts were initially a bit kinder for one reason: Suika Game is trapped behind the Nintendo iron curtain. I don't know the reasons for this, but the harsh truth is that if a gap is left unfilled on other platforms, someone is eventually going to see the money on the table and whip up an imitation. We've seen it with classic titles like Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros and even today there are many attempts to steal the battle royale crown from Fortnite. But to my shock, when I went to log this game I discovered it is also a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Why?! Who is this game for? Suika Game has more brand recognition, is a better game on the same console and has the exact same price as BWM! If Big Watermelon Match had been released on other consoles or pc or mobile I would understand why someone made this cash grab. But to be so lazy as to put it on the switch alone and hope you hook a few sales? Pitiful. The rare game that literally has no reason to exist.

The main thing Nessy the Robot has going for it as a game is that it was made for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, despite being released just a few months ago. The idea of releasing new media for outdated technology is interesting to me. It's the definition of a labor of love; the programmers are purposely limiting what they can do with their game, presumably out of fondness for the NES. There's something a little bit moving about that. This makes the middling quality level feel all the more dissapointing.

Nessy is a serviceable, but basic 2D platformer that has a bit of charm until the final boss battle. The final boss is one of the laziest things I think I've ever seen in a game. It's not particularly difficult, just repetitive and not very much fun. Nessy the Robot is meant to be a throwback to the NES era, but to me evokes the kind of flash games that were popular in the early 2000s. The difference is those games were free. Even at the low price of 10 dollars, I don't think I can recommend this game. It is mercifully short at least, the campaign is approximately an hour long. There is post-game content but I didn't really feel the urge to try it.

Gravity Circuit is a Mega Man-like game, with hints of Strider and Bionic Commando mixed in. After the first level you're presented with 8 long levels that can be played in any order, culminating in a boss fight. Like the Mega Man games for the NES, Gravity Circuit is HARD. I got to 2 boss fights but was decimated in seconds. I walked away, thinking I just had to accept it was beyond my skill level. Then I came back the next day with a turbo controller and started a new save file on easy mode. This made the game significantly more palatable, although it still puts up a hell of a fight. This will be blasphemy to some people, but the inclusion of easy mode puts this above all the classic Mega Man titles in my book. I respect that some people enjoy a challenge, but normal mode sucks your health like a sponge and there always seems to be some robot or missile locked on to your location. It's nice that there's a mode for scrubs like me who just wanna have a good time.

The pixel art was what really made me want to play GC; the game looks beautiful and the music is stellar. While the platforming controls are really tight, they fall short by requiring your character to use a grappling hook to traverse level hazards sometimes. I know the meme is that every game is improved by a grappling hook, but the physics of swinging, gaining momentum and attaching to surfaces just feel off here. It's a shame because everything else (running, punching, wall jumping) feels flawless. Thankfully the hook is not always needed, not to the point that it ruins the game experience anyway.

Gravity Circuit is challenging, but still a very fun time. If you've played Mega Man, you'll know whether or not easy or normal or hard mode is the right way to go, that's your choice. But I'd recommend the average player go with easy mode and wait for a sale, $22 is a lot for a game that can be finished in under 6 hours.

A 2D platformer where you literally cannot die. You have unlimited jumps and can basically fly across the screen destroying enemies. The game can be beaten in about an hour. While there's not much content here for adults, I think this would be a good single player game to give a toddler. The lack of difficulty paired with bright pixel art should keep a young child engaged without getting them frustrated. The only qualifier is that there is some brief text to read and some parents might not be crazy about some of the character designs (all the bad guys are multicolored poop emojis and the super babies mothers are drawn with a lot of curves if you catch my drift).

The spiritual sequel to 2015's Until Dawn, The Quarry is best described as an interactive animated horror film. As the player you make decisions (some of which involve a timer or quick-time event) that affects if certain characters live or die.

Like its predecessor this game is best experienced going in blind, so I won't comment on the narrative or specific characters. I'll just say that I thought The Quarry's mix of classic tropes and genuinely creepy atmosphere work really well. Some of the dialogue is a little too quippy, but part of me suspects that was done purposely. The cast is also phenomenal. There are no weak links but Siobhan Williams and Ted Raimi in particular put in stellar performances. I enjoyed The Quarry. But there've been no real quality of life innovations in the seven years between games. This means the strengths are still here, but The Quarry still shares the same major flaws Until Dawn had: Your character walks at a snail's pace and all cutscenes are unskippable. I understand that this game is trying to slowly build feelings of fear and anxiety, but I think improved speed features would be a fair reward for completing the game once. The game tries to remedy things with a "movie mode" that allows you to select different personalities for different characters, then watch the game play itself. But that just isn't satisfying for me. It sucks because narratively I'm definitely curious about how some scenarios would've turned out if I'd made a different choice. But I'll probably just watch them on youtube.

The Quarry is a fun spooky experience that doesn't respect the player's time. I'd recommend it if you really liked Until Dawn. Just don't pay full price, this game goes on sale all the time.