This is so odd. So you have a portable version of Sonic Generations, right? So you would be able to add levels and bosses based off of the portable games like the game gear quadrilogy, the advance trilogy, and the rush trilogy (yes colors ds included)? No? So what's here?

Sonic Generations 3DS plays like a Sonic Rush game complete with all of its trappings of 2d boost games. Although there's something to behold with how linear and boring some levels are, like DiMPS couldn't quite grasp making more unique levels that feel more complete and exiting like the rush trilogy before it. You feel like you're endlessly boosting along playing to the game's trappings and as a result, I cannot remember what the levels did and what challenged me. Surprisingly, Classic Sonic here has better physics and handling than his console counterpart, but it doesn't help much when his levels don't have much interesting design to go off of, especially when they give him modern's homing attack ability later on, destroying the simplicity of his stages with random homing attack chains.

The themes? What happened here? There's the classic green hill, casino night, and mushroom hill zones from the classic era, but for the dreamcast and modern era, they only include 2 zones each, feeling pretty half-baked when the classic era has 3. Need I mention that aside from water palace and tropical resort, those are the only stages that originate from portable sonic games? Imagine what would've been had this game taken from the older advance and game gear games like triple trouble!

This feels like a game that falls into that mediocrity zone for me. It doesn't do anything too horrible or offensive, but there's nothing there that's there to make me play more past the first era. That's a shame considering I would've loved to see a more unique take on the portable games if this had not been a weird half-step of making the console version on a portable system. As a result, I don't really care that much about this version and would rather play the other previous portable Sonic games cause they feel more complete and exciting to revisit.

Super Mario Sunshine's a weird one, but one I love. Coming off of a legendary game like that would not be an easy task, especially with the expectation of newer more powerful hardware. Polarizing does not even begin to describe how this game has been received over the years online. And yet despite everything, I still love this game dearly.

Mario in this game controls exceptionally well. Yeah he may not have much momentum to him considering you can stop on a dime almost immediately, but it makes platforming feel a tad more satisfying especially in those secret stages. This is all enhanced thanks to F.L.U.D.D., who can give you an incredible amount of versatility with air time that feels valuable in this game. Using a GameCube controller is exceptionally recommended for this game, as its notches make it easier to hold a specific direction for those tough platforming parts.

Super Mario 64's general structure of a main hub with portals to multiple different worlds is followed through here, although now you have a water jetpack named F.L.U.D.D. in a tropical beach setting, and Shadow Mario has stolen your Princess. Unlike 64, the worlds are segmented into episodes that usually only contain that episode's shine sprite. Forcing you to complete the main objective instead of getting a vague hint for what shine you should get. There may be some repetitiveness in theming due to the fact the entirety of Isle Delfino is a tropical paradise, but the levels manage to feel extremely fresh despite the same setting being used throughout. A harbor, a beach, a windmill village, a resort hotel, and a treetop village are some of many creative worlds you'll explore throughout. So the game sounds great so far, but what's so polarizing about the game?

Well it may be due to the fact that the game doesn't tell you that you have to beat Shadow Mario in every world before the final stage opens up. Yes, Every Mission involving him. It's not like all the shines you've collected are counting towards anything other than restoring the sunlight to the island, those extra shines you getting are pointless. This makes blue coins, extra shines, and even the secret levels feel pointless since these would've worked exceptionally well if they had followed 64's progression of just needing 70 stars to access the final level!

Overall, Super Mario Sunshine to me feels like the sequel to 64 that deserves it in almost every way, even with its faults. There may be issues in how its structure is laid out compared to 64 and the future games, but it still has that Nintendo charm and quality that makes me love and appreciate it even to this day. Now, what about getting a Sunburn?

the Sunburn mod changes up a few things. For one, the old 70 star requirement from 64 is backported, now finally giving more reason collect the useless shines that the original's progression made worthless. The worlds are also structured more like 64's in the sense that extra shines from other episodes can be collected outside their required episodes, making getting shines without exiting stages easier to do. Oh, and shines no longer boot you out of the stage after collecting one. Also you have a long jump, boom. Basically this mod combines the best of 64's mechanics into Sunshine's engine without changing too much of the original's structure. The mod would be a 4 & 1/2 stars if I was able to count this as well.

Nearly perfectly executed sequel in every way. There's not a single flaw I could find that could bring this game down lower than a 10/10. Levels feel more focused and fun to run through, the added party games are a great side dish to the main game, and the story mode makes for a great introduction to the difficulty of the main game with infinite tries. Oh yeah, there's also WIDESCREEN SETTINGS?? You SHOULD play this game whenever you get the chance to. This is peak SEGA & Amusement Vision right there. (psst, also play F-Zero GX...)