Hacxz
I can imagine the awe that I felt playing this is how people felt playing the original Final Fantasy VII in 1997. This game is a huge cinematic journey across the world of Gaia with one of the best soundtracks in gaming and it’s a feat to be able to reinstate that same feeling 27 years later.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a return to form for the Super Mario series, specifically the 2D games. As the name implies, it’s filled with the wonder and mystery you felt in the first Super Mario games. Your first time ever playing a Mario game, you probably thought to yourself “what happens when I hit this ? Block? Oh, a mushroom appeared! What happens if I touch it?” etc. etc. Wonder brings back that feeling of “What happens?” the Super Mario series has been solely lacking. Nintendo has made great Mario games these past few years, but they’re very predictable and all pretty much use the same formula. Wonder has Mario’s core, but ditches that tired and worn out formula for something completely new. It’s great, but they did decide to keep one part of the formula…
The only part they decided to keep was the boss fights. They’re really dull compared to the rest of the game. Bowser Jr. fights are all very similar, but the final boss was SUPER underwhelming. I’ve experienced MANY Bowser final bosses in my life and this one was honestly one of the worst ones. It’s just not that exciting, they had so many great new ideas throughout the game that they could’ve incorporated into this boss battle but they just don’t. The whole point of the story is to stop Bowser’s “grand wonder”, but when you finally see what it is it’s not so grand. In a game with so much creativity, bosses just feel off and dull compared to the rest of it.
Other than that one flaw, I do think the rest of the game is fantastic. It exudes charm on a level that hasn’t been seen in this series in ages. The talking flowers are actually pretty funny, the level design is fantastic, and in general it’s just a beautiful game to look at. Nintendo knows how to make colors absolutely pop in their games and Wonder is an excellent display of this. The animation and character designs for Mario & crew are great too. It’s clearly inspired by Yoichi Kotabe’s early Mario designs, and along with such fluid animation the cast of this game looks really good.
Out of all of that though, a key highlight for me is the music. Nintendo decided to ditch the idea of remixing the original SMB songs (like they had done for so many years with NSMB) and instead wrote brand new music for this game. It all sounds amazing, I don’t really know how to describe it besides the fact that it makes my ears feel good.
Another great thing about this game is the new voice actors. It had to happen eventually, Charles Martinet was going to leave his role someday whether we like it or not. Now we have Kevin Afghani as the new voice of Mario and Luigi. I can say that he absolutely KILLED IT! I love Martinet, I grew up on hearing his voice almost daily, but Afghani is an extremely good Mario/Luigi. This game being a reinvention of Mario is the perfect place to introduce a new voice actor and I’m very happy with Nintendo’s choice.
On the development side of things, this game is perfectly polished. It’s nice to see a truly complete game in a time where a lot of games release filled with bugs and glitches (looking at you, Spider-Man 2). Nintendo gave no deadline in the creation of this game and it really shows. I hope they continue to make games like this, I’d rather wait a bit longer and get video games on this level of quality rather than a game filled with bugs. Nintendo is definitely the king of gaming, their releases are always extremely polished on launch.
One more topic I’d like to touch on is this game’s references to other games. I think the game handles them well. They don’t shove in an expected 8-bit Mario as a reference and leave it at that. They reference games through short music stages, or a wonder effect here and there. I think it’s also neat that they reference games that they don’t usually do (spoiler: theres a whole lot of Sunshine and 64 references)
Aside from the asinine boss battles, I’d consider this game to be fantastic and one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had this whole year. The joy I felt playing this was well needed during a very stressful semester. The future looks bright, not only for Mario, but for Nintendo as a whole.
The only part they decided to keep was the boss fights. They’re really dull compared to the rest of the game. Bowser Jr. fights are all very similar, but the final boss was SUPER underwhelming. I’ve experienced MANY Bowser final bosses in my life and this one was honestly one of the worst ones. It’s just not that exciting, they had so many great new ideas throughout the game that they could’ve incorporated into this boss battle but they just don’t. The whole point of the story is to stop Bowser’s “grand wonder”, but when you finally see what it is it’s not so grand. In a game with so much creativity, bosses just feel off and dull compared to the rest of it.
Other than that one flaw, I do think the rest of the game is fantastic. It exudes charm on a level that hasn’t been seen in this series in ages. The talking flowers are actually pretty funny, the level design is fantastic, and in general it’s just a beautiful game to look at. Nintendo knows how to make colors absolutely pop in their games and Wonder is an excellent display of this. The animation and character designs for Mario & crew are great too. It’s clearly inspired by Yoichi Kotabe’s early Mario designs, and along with such fluid animation the cast of this game looks really good.
Out of all of that though, a key highlight for me is the music. Nintendo decided to ditch the idea of remixing the original SMB songs (like they had done for so many years with NSMB) and instead wrote brand new music for this game. It all sounds amazing, I don’t really know how to describe it besides the fact that it makes my ears feel good.
Another great thing about this game is the new voice actors. It had to happen eventually, Charles Martinet was going to leave his role someday whether we like it or not. Now we have Kevin Afghani as the new voice of Mario and Luigi. I can say that he absolutely KILLED IT! I love Martinet, I grew up on hearing his voice almost daily, but Afghani is an extremely good Mario/Luigi. This game being a reinvention of Mario is the perfect place to introduce a new voice actor and I’m very happy with Nintendo’s choice.
On the development side of things, this game is perfectly polished. It’s nice to see a truly complete game in a time where a lot of games release filled with bugs and glitches (looking at you, Spider-Man 2). Nintendo gave no deadline in the creation of this game and it really shows. I hope they continue to make games like this, I’d rather wait a bit longer and get video games on this level of quality rather than a game filled with bugs. Nintendo is definitely the king of gaming, their releases are always extremely polished on launch.
One more topic I’d like to touch on is this game’s references to other games. I think the game handles them well. They don’t shove in an expected 8-bit Mario as a reference and leave it at that. They reference games through short music stages, or a wonder effect here and there. I think it’s also neat that they reference games that they don’t usually do (spoiler: theres a whole lot of Sunshine and 64 references)
Aside from the asinine boss battles, I’d consider this game to be fantastic and one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had this whole year. The joy I felt playing this was well needed during a very stressful semester. The future looks bright, not only for Mario, but for Nintendo as a whole.
1998
I cannot believe how ahead of it’s time this game was. My only gripe is the slightly outdated gunplay, but everything else holds up perfectly. Voice acting, story, graphics, etc. all aged like fine wine.
2006
PEAK ASF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know those special games that come around once in a few years? Games that you can tell the devs poured their heart and soul into? Games that aren’t like anything else that came before them? Games that literally define the genre? Yeah, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of those games.
I cannot believe that the Zelda team made a genre defining game once in 2017, then 6 years went ahead and did it again. Personally before this game came out I didn’t think that they’d be able to top Breath of the Wild, I believed that Tears of the Kingdom was going to be a slight upgrade. Boy was I wrong, even if this game does take place in the same world it still feels entirely new and different. Having just explored Hyrule when I replayed BOTW then going back to the same world a day later, the world still felt fresh and new to me. The new abilities and sky islands/underworld completely entranced me in exploring this world once again.
Ultrahand and Fuse abilities have completely changed the open world genre as a whole. Building whatever you want and going wherever you want with them is so cool. The amount of creativity I’ve seen online using these features is awe inspiring and we’ll probably be seeing more and more creations for years to come. I also guarantee that in the next few years we will be seeing so many games that have these same features.
The amount of games that Breath of the Wild inspired is probably in the thousands. The paraglider and complete openness in terms of how you tackle the game has inspired games like Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, along with so so many more. I fully expect Tears of the Kingdom to have that same effect BOTW did on the gaming industry.
Touching on the story, it’s stellar too. The return of the Demon King Ganondorf (DAAAAAAAYUMMM!!!!) after 20 years was done exceptionally, and while not getting into spoilers, the final boss was among one of the best Ganondorf fights in the series. Most definitely a step up from BOTW both story and gameplay wise.
Dungeons in the game are also pretty good. Definitely not some of the best in the series but a huge step up from BOTW’s Divine Beasts. Same for the shrines too, BOTW’s shrines feel very linear compared to TOTK’s. BOTW’s shrines have one or two ways to solve them while TOTK gives you a hundred different ways to solve the shrine. The openness of this game is crazy to me and nothing short of game development wizardry.
Through and through, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a complete and utter masterpiece. The Zelda team has absolutely nailed it once again by creating another genre defining title that they poured their heart and soul into. I cannot wait to see where these incredible developers take the series next!
I cannot believe that the Zelda team made a genre defining game once in 2017, then 6 years went ahead and did it again. Personally before this game came out I didn’t think that they’d be able to top Breath of the Wild, I believed that Tears of the Kingdom was going to be a slight upgrade. Boy was I wrong, even if this game does take place in the same world it still feels entirely new and different. Having just explored Hyrule when I replayed BOTW then going back to the same world a day later, the world still felt fresh and new to me. The new abilities and sky islands/underworld completely entranced me in exploring this world once again.
Ultrahand and Fuse abilities have completely changed the open world genre as a whole. Building whatever you want and going wherever you want with them is so cool. The amount of creativity I’ve seen online using these features is awe inspiring and we’ll probably be seeing more and more creations for years to come. I also guarantee that in the next few years we will be seeing so many games that have these same features.
The amount of games that Breath of the Wild inspired is probably in the thousands. The paraglider and complete openness in terms of how you tackle the game has inspired games like Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, along with so so many more. I fully expect Tears of the Kingdom to have that same effect BOTW did on the gaming industry.
Touching on the story, it’s stellar too. The return of the Demon King Ganondorf (DAAAAAAAYUMMM!!!!) after 20 years was done exceptionally, and while not getting into spoilers, the final boss was among one of the best Ganondorf fights in the series. Most definitely a step up from BOTW both story and gameplay wise.
Dungeons in the game are also pretty good. Definitely not some of the best in the series but a huge step up from BOTW’s Divine Beasts. Same for the shrines too, BOTW’s shrines feel very linear compared to TOTK’s. BOTW’s shrines have one or two ways to solve them while TOTK gives you a hundred different ways to solve the shrine. The openness of this game is crazy to me and nothing short of game development wizardry.
Through and through, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a complete and utter masterpiece. The Zelda team has absolutely nailed it once again by creating another genre defining title that they poured their heart and soul into. I cannot wait to see where these incredible developers take the series next!
A special experience unlike any other, I can now say for a fact that Breath of the Wild has solidified itself into my top 10 with this replay. Now bring on Tears of the Kingdom!
2022
This review contains spoilers
Overall I liked this game for its gameplay and slight visual upgrades compared to its predecessors, but the biggest issue I had was the story. I know you aren’t really playing these games for the story and are rather playing for the gameplay (which don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the new gameplay and the different weapon variants were extremely fun to use), but the way they decided to take the story can’t be ignored. It feels completely random and doesn’t really fit in when compared to the other two games.
Spoilers from here forward:
The way they decided to implement the multiverse content story wise is very weird. It should’ve had more to do with paradisio and inferno like the previous entries. I’m sure the writers could’ve found a way to make a multiverse from those two realms and not used the realm of chaos as the way to incorporate it. I preferred the focus on the heaven/hell aspect of the first two games but now with these alien multiverse creatures being the main focus they basically just threw that concept out of the window (besides the occasional reference/fight). I get what the writers were trying to do in creating an enemy of the world of chaos like inferno and paradisio have but like I said the focus on heaven/hell is what the series was built on and throwing it out seemingly randomly without any setup in Bayonetta 2 (besides maybe when she travels to the past at the end of the game, but then you’d expect the multiverse to come from inferno) is kind of weird to me.
The chapters where you don’t play as Bayonetta are also pretty weak and essentially feel like filler content. The Jeanne chapters are fairly inoffensive since they’re so short but feel like the definition of filler (however the Cowboy Bebop intro reference is so good). Viola is also a topic of discussion but the issues I had with her are the same as what I have with the multiverse, very random and not set up well. They don’t tell you at the beginning her importance so when you play as her a few chapters later it feels like a chore and more filler content that you don’t care about.
On the final chapter/boss, it was legitimately the most random thing ever with absolutely zero setup. The “final boss” feels like it’s just randomly introduced at the end without any build up. On the contrary, I thought the Bayo 1 & 2 fan service was super cool when they brought in the Bayonetta’s from both previous games to fight along side the third one but at the same time it feels like they just randomly appeared for no reason. Also after completing the game you’re really left with more questions than answers. There’s almost no explanation of Viola’s story in the entire game so you feel zero connection to her during your entire play through. It’s only explained very briefly when the credits end. And seeing that she’s going to be the new protagonist of the series I really don’t like the direction they’re going in with it.
Overall I thought the game was a decent experience outside of story. Gameplay is loads of fun with the new weapons/movement and is definitely what I’d expect to see in a sequel. Same for graphics, even if it’s running on switch it looks vastly improved compared to its 360/PS3 and Wii U era counterparts. Only issue was the story and the direction they took in this game/how the series is going to move forward but nothing we can do about it now.
(Side note: loved the references to other media in this game. It references Shin Godzilla, Cowboy Bebop, Metal Gear, Metroid, Terminator, and Spider-Man to name a few.)
Spoilers from here forward:
The way they decided to implement the multiverse content story wise is very weird. It should’ve had more to do with paradisio and inferno like the previous entries. I’m sure the writers could’ve found a way to make a multiverse from those two realms and not used the realm of chaos as the way to incorporate it. I preferred the focus on the heaven/hell aspect of the first two games but now with these alien multiverse creatures being the main focus they basically just threw that concept out of the window (besides the occasional reference/fight). I get what the writers were trying to do in creating an enemy of the world of chaos like inferno and paradisio have but like I said the focus on heaven/hell is what the series was built on and throwing it out seemingly randomly without any setup in Bayonetta 2 (besides maybe when she travels to the past at the end of the game, but then you’d expect the multiverse to come from inferno) is kind of weird to me.
The chapters where you don’t play as Bayonetta are also pretty weak and essentially feel like filler content. The Jeanne chapters are fairly inoffensive since they’re so short but feel like the definition of filler (however the Cowboy Bebop intro reference is so good). Viola is also a topic of discussion but the issues I had with her are the same as what I have with the multiverse, very random and not set up well. They don’t tell you at the beginning her importance so when you play as her a few chapters later it feels like a chore and more filler content that you don’t care about.
On the final chapter/boss, it was legitimately the most random thing ever with absolutely zero setup. The “final boss” feels like it’s just randomly introduced at the end without any build up. On the contrary, I thought the Bayo 1 & 2 fan service was super cool when they brought in the Bayonetta’s from both previous games to fight along side the third one but at the same time it feels like they just randomly appeared for no reason. Also after completing the game you’re really left with more questions than answers. There’s almost no explanation of Viola’s story in the entire game so you feel zero connection to her during your entire play through. It’s only explained very briefly when the credits end. And seeing that she’s going to be the new protagonist of the series I really don’t like the direction they’re going in with it.
Overall I thought the game was a decent experience outside of story. Gameplay is loads of fun with the new weapons/movement and is definitely what I’d expect to see in a sequel. Same for graphics, even if it’s running on switch it looks vastly improved compared to its 360/PS3 and Wii U era counterparts. Only issue was the story and the direction they took in this game/how the series is going to move forward but nothing we can do about it now.
(Side note: loved the references to other media in this game. It references Shin Godzilla, Cowboy Bebop, Metal Gear, Metroid, Terminator, and Spider-Man to name a few.)
TBD
John 3:16: “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
2021
Awesome game, don’t really have a lot to say because at its core it’s just Metroid. The new mechanics are awesome though and I love how you go to different sectors all the time whereas to other Metroid games you’d visit a location once or twice and be done. Still doesn’t top Metroid 3 for me but it’s probably my 2nd favorite Metroid game now. GOTY 2021 btw (Unless Sora in Smash counts as a game lol).
The greatest reveal I have ever seen in my life. Ten out of fucking ten. God bless Sakurai and God bless this game.
My previous GOTY before Dread got announced. Really good looking game graphically on PS5 with a decent story. Gameplay got a bit repetitive at the end but it wasn’t too awful. One thing I’ll point out is I wish weapons had certain strengths and weaknesses against certain enemies like in DOOM Eternal, since in both games you always change your weapons on the fly during combat. Still an enjoyable experience overall though.
Story mode feels kind of annoying and repetitive at times but overall I had a nice time with it. Very basic but still an enjoyable game.
Amazing story and gameplay but grinding was very tedious in some parts of the game. Payoff in the end for Ending E was absolutely worth it though and I’d recommend anyone who’s played Automata to play this game and go for ending E.
2006
Amazing game, I can see where Undertale took its inspiration now (though Mother 3 is better than UT IMO now). A few small issues I had but those don’t outweigh the charm of the gameplay/environment in this game.