First and foremost, this game looks fantastic. Got no idea how you pull off a drawing style on the SNES but this is how you do it. Kirby's speed here is nice as well, he's fast in this game which keeps the pace high (for the most part). Most of the worlds are pretty solid as well. Neutral on the new and old animal buddies, never been super fond of them but I don't dislike them either. Just preferred using Kirby most of the time. The issues come with the puzzles being unfathomably cryptic sometimes, making a guide to them basically required if you want to get anywhere near the true final boss. I really try to avoid comparing this to Superstar as well, but I really really wish there was more depth to the copy abilities like there was in that game in this one, it would make it so much more fun! Despite all that though Kirby's Dream Land 3 is mostly pretty fun, despite the rough patches. Got no idea what to rate this since its pretty on the borderline between 7 and 8 in my mind, so I'll rate it the one I'm leaning toward atm.

Playing this game again when I was a game design student and learning how to program made me realize how artful every small aspect of this game is; its journey, its dialogue, the battles, the world design, and graphics, everything just clicks in favor of a singular vision and message.
While I couldn't appreciate it until years after I loved its sequel, the prequel still managed to be a formative experience for me.
I love that magicant becomes a place you visit multiple times as a home world in the pink clouds of fantasy creatures, cloud swimming cats, and just strange people, living beneath a sad queen. The armor shops in this place have multiple tiers and variations of equipment that can be useful all game, and the tons of stuff in the treasury in the queens castle combined with the limited inventory makes it so you have incentive to come back and return to this place, to relax from the real world of physical objects and people that might want to harm you while you search for the eight things that will sing you a portion of a melody to save the world.
I won't forget the dance sequence, the singing cactus, driving a tank, taking the train across the world and through the most dangerous tunnel, running from giant creatures and machines in the endgame, teaming up with a gangster that became bedridden from injury he took by helping me, having to deal with asthma, catching a cold from an npc, the list goes on.
This game might live in the shadow of its superior sequel, but it's a totally different and fantastic experience on its own, despite sharing a lot of similar flavors and ideas.
Also, after playing other rpg's from this era, the crit SMAAASH system in this game adds so much needed unpredictability to battles that it keeps them from getting stale. You can always crit an enemy for a ton of damage, or they can crit you and you have to make do with the turn-around. Having to deal with unexpected situations are what rpg's are all about.

Rating this is kind of impossible because I really didn't play the same game everyone else did. I abused the shit out of my emulator's rewind and turbo options, ESPECIALLY the latter. If I didn't, I probably would've thrown in the towel about 30 minutes in. However, I credit these as a workaround to the game's poor aging, because the story at the heart of the game is incredibly compelling and kept me just interested enough to keep going. The final 15 minutes was, surprisingly, worth all of the pain of grinding and pushing through the constant encounters. I think the best summation I could give of this game is that everything you've heard about it is true. The grinding is pretty excessive, the encounters are way too frequent, and in general it feels like a dry run for Mother 2, but it is saved by having really intriguing worldbuilding and themes, an absolutely stellar soundtrack, and an impactful final boss fight that sticks with you despite its simplicity. I wouldn't recommend that you play it, maybe just watch someone else play it instead, but if you do, there are a lot of hacks to make things more enjoyable; I'd personally recommend the all-in-one Demiforce hack.

Also, Backloggd dropped the ball on this. It's called Mother. Nothing else. Don't listen to Nintendo's lies.

Even Without Wings, I Can Still Fly!
Right?

No Sonic you fucking idiot. You can’t just fly like that you dumb motherfucker.

sonic riders and i have a nostalgic relationship. back in 2018 i had found a crusty and literal dogshit ridden ps2 console across the street from my house for garbage pickup. i decided i’d take it home and it’s been my primary ps2 ever since. that was the first home console i ever owned. being a huge sonic fan at the time (the classic games were basically daily replays for me) i went on the hunt for all the sonic ps2 games. i picked up sonic riders not really knowing what i was getting myself into. i played it and frustratingly put it down before i could even finish the heroes story. i was even worse at finishing games back then goddamn. needless to say i thought the game wasn’t very good lol. fast forward to 2020 and i pick up the game again but this time for my newly purchased nintendo gamecube. frustrated with the game’s mechanics yet again, i scoured to the internet to see if maybe i was doing something wrong. turns out i was, i just sucked ass at the game. i watched this excellent video by pspman3000 multiple times over and found myself rapidly improving at the game. i was officially hooked.

I GET IT OKAY? IT JUST FLOATS AND THATS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME

Sonic Riders has THE VIBES (TM). it’s the most 2006 6th gen game i’ve ever played. sleek mid 2000s UI with…the wackiest ass story in a sonic game. ironically though i fucking love it. the animation is the most expressive in a sonic game yet; it has SOUL…. shit presents itself in a very in-your-face way that you barely have any time to process what the fuck is happening, and this applies even during gameplay. whoever decided not to explain how the game works in the main story is a fucking idiot. who the fuck tucks away the tutorial into some bonus menus and then does a half-assed job making said tutorial. regardless, the actual gameplay and mechanics are SO fun once you master them (which could roughly take 20 hours 😁). shits jumpin bumpin and hoppin. i get such immense pleasure from popping off sick tricks and slapping the fuck outta jet the hawk’s shit eating face during a boost. i fuckin, yelled out, “IM CRAZY WITH THE SAUCE” while playing this shit. i hate what sonic has done to me but i love playing his games (pre 2012 🙂). ‘style over substance’ is what you could say about sonic riders and you’d be right on the money. there’s like, BARELY any content here. years ago i did all the missions and it was fun as hell yeah, but do i ever wanna do that shit again? no. when i come back to this one its mainly for the kickass tunes, wacky-ass slapstick story, and the addicting gameplay which is all wrapped up nicely in the story mode. there’s no reason to play any other mode unless you’re me during quarantine in 2020 playing this game for hours at a time for days on end. this shit drugged me up back then. in terms of quality sonic riders could be a 6 or 7/10 because of its insane lack of content, but i don’t give a shit. i enjoy every second i play of this and the mechanics are insanely engrossing for me. one of the reviews on this site says “The higher you rate this game, the better you were at it.” THIS IS VERY TRUE. it’s also why this isn’t a 10/10 because i’m not a master yet despite having probably over 50 hours to my name. there’s some wild shit you can do that i can’t even fathom exists. i don’t blame anyone who doesn’t find this game their cup of tea tho lol. sonic riders very crappily explains its mechanics and the skill ceiling is insanely high. before i forget, THE TUNES (TM). hard ass electronic beats that got me bopping. everything in this game compliments each other extremely well. it’s another rushed 2000s era sonic game but it’s MY rushed 2000s era sonic game. i hate being a sonic fan.

Firebrand is one of the most iconic enemies from 80's gaming: A blood-red demon who seethes with snarled aggression and makes short work of you with cunning movement tactics. He's the biggest douchebag inside what's already considered one of the hardest games of its era. So I can't help but be puzzled that the direction Capcom went for his solo outings were low-difficulty platformers with minimal combat.

There's lots of odd choices abound here. Like Quackshot, the game has linear levels but requires you to revisit them with keycard abilities in a metroidvania-esque setup. There's alternate attacks and transformations required for progression that take constant menu-ing to switch between - it was 94, why no shoulder button toggles ala MMX? There's an attempt at a hub world but it just amounts to 1 NPC and a few shops, was really wishing there'd be more to justify 100% exploration. You also get a lot of money to spend on 1-time items that I mostly didn't use. Bosses have really bloated HP bars and excessive i-frames.

And yet for all its weird choices, they rarely inhibit the core appeal. Vibes carry Demon's Crest very hard: The beautiful world, snappy movement and haunting orchestral music are great. I couldn't tell you a hook or mechanic I was really invested in, but the feeling of playing it is just as strong as any other Capcom game. A very low-key, sobering platform experience with a good edge to it. Oddly relaxing, moreso than something child-friendly like Magical Quest.

There's also three endings depending on how many items you get before confronting Phalanx, the final boss. I only got the first two, but I was content with that. It's really funny to me that in the 2nd ending, Phalanx just pussies out, screaming "I'm not owned! I'm not owned!" with his tail between his legs. I'm sure most people see it as an unsatisfactory victory because you don't get to finish him off with your own hands, but like, nothing's more empowering than knowing your nemesis is scared shitless by you.