A thoroughly enjoyable rogue-like to pick up and play. As someone who sucks at chess but really enjoys the concept this game fulfilled my desire to be a pseudo-pro. The characterisation of the various chess pieces is really charming and the game has a surprisingly interesting setup given that on the surface it seems like a simple concept. I really enjoyed the upgrade system and how every buff comes with a debuff, it gives the game a lot more strategy and causes you to adopt a various play-styles to match your current strengths. Overall the game is a lot of fun and it succeeds in making you feel like a powerful tyrant but its worth noting that its quite short, I managed to beat the main mode in under an hour.

Minit fun racer is a perfect little appetizer for anyone who enjoyed the equally addictive Minit. It is a charming spinoff title that knows it's place, offering the typical level of depth found in most endless runner games, with the added novelty of incorporating the time pressure of it's parent title. It's hard not to adore a game with a multitude of price points to pick from where 100% of the proceeds go to charity. This amazing idea means it's an easily justifiable purchase and you're almost guaranteed bank for your buck.

Mario Land is a short but sweet game, that manages to hold a strong sense of individuality thanks to unique themes, enemies and bosses; which are always welcome in the ever so repetitive Mario franchise. With this being the first Mario game on the Gameboy system it's clear that Nintendo were still getting a feel of how to best utilize the console to the best of it's ability. Consequently the main drawbacks of this game are it's unnatural feeling physics and questionable artstyle, however I feel that the core gameplay is not significantly held back by this, leaving an overall enjoyable experience that holds up decently today.

A masterclass in storytelling, Firewatch uses both the unknown and the unseen to create a terrifying wilderness where the player is made to piece the truth together like a meticulously designed jigsaw. The atmosphere in this game is like nothing else, the suspense and tension keep you constantly hooked, desperate for the next slither of information. Both the writing and voice acting bring the story to life, with some of the most impressive and convincing performances I've ever heard. It's impossible not to empathise with the characters and their chemistry is astonishingly natural. Additionally, the multiple choices in dialogue trees allows the player to really feel that they are shaping the story that unfolds. The visuals of this game are just gorgeous, the unique artstyle paired with the amazing scenery meant I couldn't resist stopping and taking pictures at every turn. Firewatch is a perfect example of how graphical fidelity isn't always necessary to have a beautiful game with a strong sense of identity. Lastly, although it's short, the story feels like the perfect length, with a well rounded structure and almost no unnecessarily slower moments for padding.

If you haven't already, I implore you to give this game a go. I promise it's worth your time.

Kirby's Dream Land 2 is a perfectly fine game in its own right. By building off the back of DL1 and Kirby's adventure this game provides a well rounded Gameboy Kirby experience complete with transform abilities and a familiar hub-world. DL2 is much more expensive than its predecessor, with a longer campaign, more bosses areas and levels. New additions in the title are the inclusion of stars, a new collectable which grants the player a 1up every time 7 are collected. The biggest change in this game is the inclusion of partners that assist Kirby. The hamster, fish and owl each possess unique abilities and controls so it's fun and refreshing to use them to traverse the level and discover how the transform abilities change with each. However, the game's main flaw is that it's most unique elements don't build upon Kirby's gameplay, they just alter it. Although the partners are initially a nice change of pace, it is quickly evident that they are nothing more than a gimmick. Levels that are especially designed to work with the animals movement are very fun, but more often than not don't really feel like Kirby. Using the animal in levels designed from Kirby can range from absurdly overpowred (owl) to painful useless (fish). My general sentiment of this game is disappointment. It fails to utilise a character and world so unique and creative and instead favourite new concepts that ultimately let it down. I've shelved for now, in future I may find the desire to complete it.

As far as first entries go Kirby's Dream land is a good enough starting point as any for one of the most beloved characters in gaming. It's clear that this game utilises every ounce of potential in the Gameboy's hardware to the point where often the gameplay is nearly indistinguishable from Kirby's adventure for the NES. You'll be hard pressed to find another franchise that had such a seamless transition from handheld to home console whilst maintaining enjoyable and fairly sophisticated gameplay on both. Now the elephant in the room of course; Kirby's copy abilities aren't present in the first game. As such a core aspect of the character (and how well suited would have been for the gameplay) Kirby's Dream Land does feel largely incomplete without it. Despite that, it's beautifly meticulous level design, ambitious bosses, sense of humour and theming all in combination set a precedent for future titles. The fact so much
from this game is carried fourth in the series to date speaks volumes for its own achievement.

A must-play mario adventure

SML2 is the perfect successor to SML building upon its wacky and wonderful locations, enemies and bosses.This time however the teams vision feels fully realised with a game that is on par with a true fully fledged 2D home console Mario. As opposed to the shoot-em-up sections in it's predecessor, SML2 keeps gameplay fresh through a variety of changes to Mario's movement and the environment that offer unique challenges whilst ensuring the game remains a platformer. Examples range from zero or low gravity in Space zone, Water in Turtle Zone to sticky honey in Tree zone. Throughout my playthrough my favourite moments we're always anticipating what new enemies I might stumble across next and the excitement of uncovering something you least expect. The overall difficulty is fairly easy, letting you breeze through the short story and majority of bosses with ease for the most part. However the challenge suddenly ramps up on the last stage; Wario's Castle which plays like a kaizo-mario level. I found this to be both infuriating and delightfully challenging, taking me several hours to beat but all the more satisfying in the end. Unfortunately, the platforming itself poses more of a threat than the actual final boss, who (despite his 3 forms) was one of the more simplistic and easy to navigate fights. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this game and for me it ranks in the top 3 Mario 2D platformers, I really wished modern Mario was packed full with such charm, individuality and unique gameplay systems.

An adequate starting point for the series, but not the greatest aged game of all time. Some great storytelling throughout and overall fun gameplay, however not enough is done to keep the gameplay loop fresh. This is particularly evident in combat and enemy variety, with a lot of mini-bosses returning as basic enemies time and time again. There is a lot of fun to be had upgrading and testing the skills and different combos however, more often than not you'll find yourself sticking to a set few which are most effective. Puzzles ranged from either intricately designed with incredibly satisfying solutions to frustratingly tedious with no clear solution at times but overall there was an enjoyable level of charm and challenge in solving them. The final Boss was quite fun however with so much narrative build up I can't help but feel a little disappointed by the lack of new mechanics or challenges presented by it.

Kirby's Appetiser That You regret Buying When The Main Course Comes Out

This isn't a full Kirby experience my any stretch of the imagination, it doesn't pretend to be and therefore I won't review it as such. This game is just a neat little spin off party game to be enjoyed with friends.

Even with that in mind though the game fails to meet the modest expectations I had for it. As someone who has countless hours on Super Mario Party, I can often look past a pretty soulless party game so long as it's got sufficient co-op support. With the right people even the most shallowest party games can be a blast. But Kirby's Dream Buffet doesn't even give itself the chance to shine by only supporting 2 players locally in a 4 player oriented party game. This ultimately causes the games other flaws such as lack of gameplay variety to stand out even further because there really is only so many times you can compete against 1 friend and 2 robots before you've exhausted all possible outcomes.

Sadly I think this game might actually be a blast with 4 players (which annoyingly is only supported in online co-op) but I certainly won't be suggesting any of my friends pick it up (despite its reasonable price tag) because it's clear to me that this targets much more of a casual family audience. I have to issue with family oriented party games, in fact I love them but the the absolute bare minimum for that genre is sufficient couch co-op support.

Unfortunately this game falls short in a few too many ways to make it worthwhile, which is a real shame because the core concept and gameplay systems are really fun and the visuals are beautiful charming. I'm really fond of the idea of small affordable party games, I just hope Nintendo learns from this and flashes out the replayability and accessibility in future.