Growing up, I always had an admiration for Zelda but was also intimidated by them. I would get stuck or lost quickly in the games and give up, even if I was having fun. The Forest Temple in Twilight Princess, Snowhead from Majora’s Mask, etc. The only Zelda game I managed to finish back then was Ocarina 3D, and that was only because my eyes were glued to a walkthrough the entire time. I still had fun but didn’t feel as immersed as I could have since I wasn’t figuring anything out myself.

A Zelda game that had always caught my eye in particular was Wind Waker. Whether it was due to my affinity with the GameCube at the time or its luscious visuals and music; I knew it was a game I needed to play. Around 2019 I finally bought a copy and had plenty of fun, but personal troubles distracted me from progressing past the second dungeon.

My partner who's a huge Zelda fan came to visit me for their birthday last year. They suggested we play Wind Waker with the tingle tuner, which I was absofruitly down with. We managed to progress further than I ever had in a Zelda game (besides Ocarina), and I still couldn’t put it down after they returned home.

Almost about all aspects of Wind Waker appealed to me perfectly. I already mentioned how wonderful I found the art style and music, but the story also left me captivated. I won’t be going into much detail, but the arc Link goes through resonated with me more than anything else. That’s not to mention all the other characters I loved. Komali, Medli, & Tetra in particular were my favourites. Hell, even side characters such as Salvatore and Beedle were so charming that I couldn’t help but adore them.

When I say Wind Waker is some of the most fun I’ve ever had with a video game, I am not sugarcoating that. Admittedly, while playing, I could easily see why plenty of aspects of the game could be a turnoff for others. Did that deter me, though? Not at all.

Truth be told, sailing across the ocean might have been my favourite part. It felt like exploring uncharted land. I was always interested in which island I would find next. Hunting for treasure was also way more satisfying than I remember it being. With how much I was loving the experience, I went out of my way to fully complete the game. (minus the Nintendo gallery because I didn’t have time for it) Even while I was repeating the same stupid minigame, I was having the time of my life.

Of course, I did have to look up a walkthrough for secrets and side quests, but as far as the main story went, I was usually able to figure out the solution on my own. The dungeons are some of the easiest of 3D Zelda, but they're still hecka creative with their puzzles and items. And considering I tended to get lost in Zelda games before I played WW, (when I first played Ocarina, I literally got stuck in the Deku Tree) I greatly appreciated the lower difficulty.

The moment I finished Wind Waker, I knew it was one of my favourite games ever. After years of trying Zelda titles and putting them down, I had finally managed to feel fully immersed in at least one of them. If Wind Waker was able to open my eyes up to how phenomenal the Zelda franchise truly was, then I was excited to see what made other games in the series special.

Now, I can easily say Zelda is one of my favourite franchises ever. For the most part, it's failed to disappoint. While other games are certainly more challenging and complex than this one, Wind Waker is still incredibly valuable to me. I can see its glaring issues, but it has so much heart and soul and is still one of the most fun and magical experiences I've had with a video game. So, thank you, Wind Waker. Because of you, my brain is permanently rotted with your franchise!

I love goats; they're such cool animals. I would say goats are the GOAT, but sheep are the actual GOAT if you ask me. But there are a lot of similarities between the two! For instance, did you know they're both part of the Caprini tribe?

This is all relevant because Corn Kidz 64 is all about goats. Well, you're playing as a goat; Seve, the single horned kid! He looks like he lives in a Hot Topic along with his friend Alexis; who also happens to be single horned. I bet they listen to Korn on the daily. I'm sure Issues would be their favourite considering it's the best Korn record.

I think the story has something to do with Seve having reoccurring dreams about nachos, and Alexis trying her best to break him free. I say "I think" because I found the story very confusing to follow. One minute you're in a playground and then fifteen minutes later you're in a hollow full of palindromes and pigs. I suppose the dream theme of the game could explain the lack of cohesion, but I had a difficult time understanding what the hell was going on besides Seve craving nachos.

The writing is incredibly on the nose to the point it may as well replace your nose, but I think it works well for what they were going for. It's dumb and edgy, but I still found myself giggling every now and again. Sometimes stupid, silly humour like this hits the spot. This game also loves its palindromes. And as a connoisseur of wordplay, I'm all for it!

The audiovisuals replicate the era of the N64, and they do a fantastic job at that. Hell, if this was on N64, it would be one of the best looking games on the system! The animations utilise plenty of squash and stretch, leaving for super fluid and cartoony movements. The models themselves feature that low poly N64 charm, and the environments manage to look bleak and haunting while also popping with colour. I'm a bit mixed on the soundtrack, but it is technically pretty great. I'm just not a huge fan of the N64 soundfont, is all.

I've rambled this long about the vibes of the game without actually touching upon the gameplay. Dear goat, this game is so much fun. Seeing as you play as a goat, climbing and headbutting are the major mechanics of this game. And because of Seve's singular horn, he can use it as a drill of sorts. Later on, he can even burrow into the ground! The mechanics are pushed to their absofruit limits. This game demands precision platforming. This could definitely be a turn off for plenty of people, but I was all for it. The level design was incredibly challenging yet completely satisfying.

While I normally love collectathons, this game's use of a collectathon structure didn't really impress me much. I mean, I enjoyed roaming these massive playgrounds, interacting with all the NPCs, and taking in the world, but I didn't feel as satisfied collecting the... well, collectibles. It felt a bit arbitrary at times. Progression is typically locked behind doors, and the only way to open the doors is by collecting enough experience. I was never in a situation where I needed to backtrack to collect more experience, but I can imagine it being a dealbreaker for others.

I'd argue the game shined the best when the levels were simply about reaching the goal. The inside of the Hollow Tree and the Tower were my favourite parts of the game for those reasons. There were also mini challenges scattered throughout the two worlds. They reminded me of the FLUDD-less levels from Mario Sunshine, but unlike those stages, you actually had all your tools available.

In spite of how confusing I found the story, I was satisfied with the ending. The climb up the Tower was arduous in the best ways possible. And once I finally reached the top, I was greeted with a blissful credits theme while Seve was forced out of his dreams. No, he never got his nachos. But you know who did? That rat bastard, Alexis. You troglodyte, you shouldn't be eating nachos if you're wearing braces!

One more thing I should note is that Corn Kidz 64 is a very, very short game. There's only two worlds, two linear tower levels, and a handful of bonus levels here and there. But honestly, I didn't feel underwhelmed by the length. Considering how much it pushes its mechanics, I'm not sure how much further they could have gone. I would definitely love to see more of this game, but it still managed to be a short yet sweet and satisfying experience. It may just be the GOAT of goat based games I've ever played!

I recently adopted a black kitten named Heath. He may just be the cutest cat ever. For such a small boy, Heath has really big features. His ears in particular are massively adorable. Almost everyone I've shown him to agrees that he is too precious for this world. My sister in particular wishes she could catnap him.

Whenever I play a Mario game, Heath takes interest. He'll keep his eyes glued to the screen and sometimes bat at it as well. He did this when I played the first two Paper Marios, Mario Kart Double Dash & Wii, and even Mario Superstar Baseball.

Yet besides that one mouse game I downloaded on my phone, I don't think Heath has taken more interest in any game than with Super Mario Sunshine. I am convinced by this point that Heath simply really loves Mario. For all we know, he's the true Mario loremaster.

Since this game brings out the adorableness of my adorable kitten even more than any other game has, it deserves a perfect score for that reason alone.

And if I can find that mouse game on this site, then I'll be sure to give it even more praise!

It took thirty years, but between Ariem and Lanolin, I'm glad SEGA finally realise that sheep are the peak of the animal kingdom.

Oh, and the game centered around Ariem is pretty neat, too!

Perhaps this is a bold statement, but this game feels like an attempt at classic Snoc in 3D. It's obviously streamlined in plenty of manners, but I can't help but appreciate what they were going for anyways.

The controls in particular give me the impression. Every character has the same base moveset: running, jumping, homing attacking, and boosting. There are no complex techniques to pull off such as stomping or wall jumping. However, Snoc/Amy can light dash, Tails/Cream can fly, and Knuckles/Rogue can scale walls.

These abilities are utilised for specific paths in levels. However, there were times I was able to surpass the barriers with other characters; such as flying with Cream to reach the top of a wall the treasure hunters would have to climb. It was fun getting to experiment with the level design like that. Even if that level of experimentation wasn't possible though, being able to switch between the playable characters at any point meant I was never screwed out of exploring the levels to their fullest. ...Well, once I unlocked them all, of course.

On that note, the level design reminds me of Classic Snoc as well, albeit much simpler. There aren't many instances of completely different routes to the finish. However, exploration is heavily encouraged. The levels feel very open, with multiple path to reach the next checkpoints. The five red rings and thirty blue coins to collect also tie into the appeal. The levels still have a linear goal in mind, but how to reach the end can be drastically different.

I still have my gripes with the game, of course. I can tolerate most of the mobile gameisms like the design of the menus or the DS style cutscenes, but locking progression behind collecting orbs certainly feels arbitrary. I was willing to put up with the touch controls, but they certainly aren't ideal. Moving the camera in particular felt inadequate. I'm sure the game would be far more enjoyable with a controller.

There are a plethora of Snoc games I still prefer, but I had a lot of fun with this. A sonic game that encourages fucking around and finding out has been my dream since I got into the series, and Dream Team delivered those wishes quite well! I'd love to see more 3D Snoc games like this. Preferably more fleshed out, of course.

Has there ever been a hyper specific moment in a game that for some reason stuck in your mind more than anything else you witnessed while playing?

There's a scene early on where Wheatley attempts to disengage from his management rail. He's terrified about the consequences if this happens, but he chooses to play with fate anyway. He tells the player to catch him after he counts down from three, but in the time it takes him to count, he begins to second guess his choices. So, instead he counts down from one and plummets immediately.

I''m unsure why, but this particular moment left an impact on me. So much so that I began to use Wheatley's technique. Now, of course, I'm not a british sphere dismounting from the ceiling. But whenever there's something I want to commit to but have second thoughts about, I try the exact same mechanism. I count to three before counting to one and proceeding impulsively.

It's a silly technique that's genuinely helped me; especially regarding reaching out to others. I struggle with social anxiety to the point that I often become fearful simply trying to say hello to a friend. This whole "count to three, count to one" technique has helped me detach from my worries and hop right in. And I'd argue it's been nothing but helpful. Hell, the first time I tried texting my partner, I used this technique so I would finally say hello to them.

I'm not sure what's more interesting; Portal 2 being indirectly responsible for my relationship, or a superficial gag resonating with me to the point I began using as a coping mechanism. The fact that a microscopic portion of Portal 2 was able to help me immensely with my anxiety proves how much of a masterpiece it truly is.

...Well, sure. It's also an amazing experience with delectable physics based puzzles and platforming along with a sublime atmosphere. But that cutscene of Wheatley falling from the ceiling? No, that's the actual reason why I have to give it a perfect score.

Diamond/Pearl/Platinum are some of the most beloved games in the series by fans, and for good reason. To this day, they're debatably some of the most ambitious and challenging games in Pokemon history. The physical/special split was a much needed mechanical change, there's plenty of fun side content to sink your teeth into, and the introduction of Wi-Fi was huge for the series. All us troglodytes could finally play with others in the comfort of our own abodes! I have plenty of respect for Platinum for everything influential it did. ...That doesn't mean I have to like it, though.

Pokemon Platinum is a game that had already gotten worse for me with each revisit. That in mind, I assumed with my hiatus from the franchise that I would be able to enjoy the game with a fresh mindset. After all, I enjoyed my time with older instalments such as Emerald and Crystal. I even had a lot of fun with Blue version, which I never played before! There were definitely moments when I was having fun with Platinum, but the overall experience left me far more frustrated and burnt out than anything.

As much of a low hanging fruit as it is, Platinum really is a slog. And that's not only because it runs on the slowest engine in the series. It often feels like the game is actively designed to slow the player down as much as possible.

To avoid spoilers, I won't be diving extensively into the story, but as a whole I find it incredibly irritating and a waste of time. Most of the characters; particularly the grunts of Team Galactic, speak in such a robotic manner and always state the obvious. I don't know if it was an attempt at being funny, but lines like "You have forced our hand into making a show of force!" or "Tougher than I can put into words, and I know a lot of words!" sound so unnatural and fall flat.

It doesn't help that the grunts don't seem to understand what they're doing; most of their schemes come out of left field and tend to not connect to their end goals in any way. Even the schemes that do relate to their motives like bombing the lakes come out of nowhere because the story does such a poor job building up to these events. The best they do is vaguely hint at what they're doing, but it fails to create any real urgency.

Apparently, the intention of the story was to create a perfect world for everyone. This does tie into Team Galactic's ringleader motive, as he constantly expresses his desire for such. The problem is that he acts like the world they live in is flawed and imperfect, yet Team Galactic are the only ones causing problems.

Nothing is ever expanded upon besides the bullet points, so what could have been an interesting story amounts to saturday morning cartoon villains trying to take over the world. Everything is super showy and over the top to compensate for how shallow the plot truly is. And the real kicker of all? I'm FORCED to sit through this! I can't exactly overlook this game's story when it's constantly forced upon me while I'm playing.

But you know what? Maybe Team Galactic was right about the world being imperfect. After all, Sinnoh might just be the most tedious region to explore if you ask me. It's designed with plenty of branching paths and cities to explore. Yet it's more railroaded than ever. They constantly throw up roadblocks to prevent the player from progressing where they shouldn't, and they feel so out of place. HMs in particular are required more than ever. I often got lost because of how confusing the progression is.

Sinnoh feels like it was designed to be open ended, but rarely takes advantage of all the alternating paths it has. More often than not, when the player has to return to an area, they're required to backpedal through the same path they already explored with hardly anything new to see. It doesn't help that as the story progresses, the next required location is often so far away that flying is practically a necessity. Sure, there may be a few extra items to grab with any newly obtained HMs, but they feel a lot less rewarding with the backtrack being necessary.

This ties more into my biggest grievance with Platinum, but the design of the routes tend to feel unnatural. It's like they threw a bunch of set pieces and items in without much care, and it makes it really hard to believe these are routes the characters in this world would actually walk through. Hell, there are a few routes that rely on obnoxious gimmicks! Swamp that sinks the player in place, snow to trudge through at an incredibly slow pace, etc. It makes already haphazard level design even more agonising.

This all brings me into what bothers the most about Platinum, though. I fail to feel any sense of immersion or connect to the world. As if the artificial characters and haphazard world design weren't enough. I find it difficult to distinguish most of the areas because they tend to blend together. There are some unique areas that I do greatly appreciate, however. Canalave and Sunyshore city in particular stand out to me. I could not tell the difference between a city like Hearthome or Veilstone, though.

This is mostly a personal issue, but I also find a lot of the hues used in the overworld incredibly garish. The neon grass in particular was so overstimulating for me that I had to turn my DS's brightness down to the lowest setting. I still don't understand why they used such bright colours like the GBA games did when the DS had backlit screens.

This onion might be spicy enough to get me slaughtered, but... I'll be blunt. I do not vibe with a majority of the brand new Pokemon introduced. Not only do they also tend to use really jarring and overstimulating hues, but there are often so many unnecessary flourishes with their designs that makes them feel way more artificial. A majority of the Pokemon look more like over the top action figures to me than creatures, and it makes it harder for me to feel connected to them. There are a handful that I adore, but a majority are add-ons to older Pokemon I already liked. All in all, it leaves me way less interested in using these new Pokemon they designed for this generation.

I should note that Platinum does make some significant improvements over Diamond/Pearl. The Pokedex in particular goes from one of the worst to one of the best, with plenty of variety and options. On top of that, the engine runs a bit faster and the story adds a few new characters and details that make it a bit more redeemable. I don't think Platinum really fixes any of the core issues, however. I still don't like Team Galactic, I still don't enjoy exploring Sinnoh, and I still don't feel very immersed in the experience.

I'm sure quite a few of these problems could be traced back to some of the older games. Hell, I've seen plenty of people compare its problems to Ruby and Sapphire in particular. I don't think that excuses Platinum, though. If anything, it's even worse, because not only is it repeating those mistakes but it's also doubling down on them. Platinum reveals how desperately the formula needed tweaking. But you know what? If that's what Game Freak needed to polish and improve the formula, then maybe it was for the best. And for those who adore the old formula for Pokemon; warts and all, then maybe Platinum is all they could ask for.

I really ought to focus on Pokemon games I still enjoy rather than the ones I don't, yet I probably have more to say about Diamond/Pearl/Platinum than I do with any other Pokemon game. Sure, it's mostly criticism, but I've never felt so passionate ranting about a Pokemon game. I'll reiterate what I stated in the beginning. I may not enjoy Platinum much any more, but I still have a ton of respect for it. We truly do have a complicated relationship, Platinum and I.

How far can appealing visuals/music and a well written story carry a game if the gameplay doesn't match up?

When I was 11, my mother's friend gifted me two Pokemon games- Explorers of Sky and HeartGold. I was immediately hooked to Explorers; it was both my introduction to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and dungeon crawlers as a whole. I never actually finished it, but the story and characters captivated me so much. I felt especially connected to my teammate. It certainly helped that my teammate was my favourite Pokemon at the time, Squirtle, but I had never been so charmed by a character in any other Pokemon game.

With how obsessed I was with Explorers, I wanted to experience its prequel as well: Rescue Team. Two years later, I bought a used copy of Blue at GameStop and was just as enamoured. However, the steep difficulty prevented me from progressing very far. It didn't help that my interest was leaning more towards the new Pokemon games like X and Alpha Sapphire. So, I put Blue Rescue Team and eventually Explorers of Sky down for a good while.

I want to say it was around 2017 when I started a new file on Blue Rescue Team and finally finished the main story. My feelings were far more conflicted by the end, and I wasn't motivated to explore the post game.

As far as gameplay goes, it's difficult for me to appreciate much about Blue Rescue Team. Now, I could ramble about all the baffling design choices and inconveniences that later games fixed. And in all fairness, the more polished mechanics of later games such as larger inventories or the recruit system go a long way in making them more enjoyable experiences. Hell, I'm sure this game would be a lot more tolerable with those improvements. I'm not entirely sure if I would end up liking that product either, though.

My biggest caveat with Blue Rescue Team isn't how horribly unpolished the game is; especially in comparison to later installments. Even at its core, I don't find Blue Rescue Team very fun or engaging. I love turn based RPGs, and I've enjoyed what I've played of dungeon crawlers. Maybe there's some great combination of the genres, but for me, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon certainly isn't. The grid based movement feels super clunky to me for this style; especially considering just moving one step counts as a turn. Every action taken counts as a turn, actually. I find it incredibly tedious to explore these dungeons because of that.

It's even worse when enemy Pokemon are involved. I don't mind the turn based battling when I do want to fight them, but what if I don't? Then I'm forced to endure the game constantly stopping me in my tracks so both my teammates and all the enemies can make their moves. I know it's possible to modify the teammates' AI, but it doesn't stop the whole experience from feeling like a slog to me.

These dungeons being absurdly long doesn't help, either. I don't mind the early game dungeons; they're often around 10 floors at most, which I would honestly consider the perfect amount. But especially around the second half of the game, the dungeons can stretch from 20 to as far as 30 levels! I recall a few dungeons having midway save points, but that didn't help the fatigue I was feeling. I was both constantly terrified from the fear of needing to restart the dungeon and burnt out from trudging through for so long. I know there's a quick save feature, but the punishment for losing is even worse when it's utilized. Which is saying something; because Blue Rescue Team is already super punishing for losing in a dungeon.

As far as I know, the post game dungeons reach levels as high as 99. It doesn't matter how many midway points there were; there's no way I could handle a dungeon that long. I'm honestly shocked this game doesn't save in-between, because literally ever other dungeon crawler/adjacent game I've played has that feature. It's not a quick save either, you can reset as much as you want. Considering how trial and error dungeon crawlers often are due to their random generation, I think allowing the player to reset as much as they want makes perfect sense. Does it make the game easier? Maybe, but to what degree? Just that feature alone would make Blue Rescue Team far more tolerable.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who love Blue Rescue Team's gameplay anyway. Perhaps they adore the challenge that awaits them in the 99 floor dungeons. I think it's amazing that so many people love the PMD series as much as they do. Believe me, I want to love it as well, but the gameplay is simply way too tedious for my tastes. I'll certainly give Explorers of Sky another shot; I remember the gameplay being far more tolerable and the aspects of Rescue Team I did love were enhanced tenfold. My only real hope is that the core of it all won't turn me off from appreciating where it truly succeeds, like Blue Rescue Team unfortunately did.

Before I replayed Pokemon HeartGold, I never expected to place all my faith into an ice breathing pig.

Pokemon HeartGold overall was a breezy yet fun and relaxing experience for me. That in mind, I had struggled a couple time here and there throughout my journey. That stupid cow, catching the birb on the boxart, and the needless grinding from the wonky level scaling. Nothing, however, compared to Lance.

This dude had three damn dragons which were all ten levels above my own team. Most of my team was equipped to deal with his other party members. Tristessa the Ampharos easily knocked out Gyarados, Beau the Togekiss dealt with Charizard, and both Ozma the Forretress and Souvlaki the Espeon were able to wall long enough to heal my fighters. The only two who were capable of taking on the Dragonites were Toledodile the Feraligatr and Oink Oink the Mamoswine.

Up to this point, I hadn't utilized Oink Oink much. I caught her pretty late into the game, and I couldn't even evolve her into Piloswine until after I beat Claire. She was difficult to use until I fully evolved her, and by that point, what was left? Some trainers along the way that use level 30 Mareep?

Oink Oink had a dastardly trick up her sleeve, however. She knew Ice Shard; an ice type attack that while weak had priority. Her defences weren't the best, and one Dragonite knew Fire Blast; a move that would instantly kill her if it connected. So, she was my last hope. If this didn't work, I was bound to lose and soft reset until my luck finally pulled through.

Because Toledodile is a slow ass bitch, he didn't even survive to throw an icy punch at those dragons. Oink Oink meanwhile took advantage of her specialty and swept through the dragons. She did pass out to Lance's most powerful Dragonite, but a max revive later and she was back on her feet. She barely survived the dragon rushes and evaded the other attacks that I forgot about already. And with one last ice shard, Oink Oink pulled it off. She knocked out all the Dragonites.

I entered the hall of fame with a newfound respect for Oink Oink. She went from my most underutilized team member to the shining star. Which is saying a lot, because up until that point, Tristessa and Beau were doing most of the heavy lifting. Oink Oink proved her worth, however.

Now, I wouldn't call Oink Oink my favourite Pokemon ever. Flaaffy exists, after all. But she's certainly left an impact on both my heart and soul in flavours of silver and gold.

Thank you, Oink Oink.

I think people misunderstand why this game is so ballsy with its difficulty. Of course it’s so incredibly hard; SEGA obviously wanted players to develop quicker reaction timing. Having lightning fast reaction is important, especially if you’re driving. In fact, playing the daytime levels is a lot like driving through a city. The only difference is that if you die in the car, you die in real life as well. SEGA weren’t being sadistic; they were looking out for their fans. They want us all to be good drivers so we don’t crash our cars because we didn’t play enough Sonic Unleashed. I think S ranking every stage in Unleashed should be a requirement in receiving a license. Maybe then, the roads would be less dangerous. …Or, they’ll end being even more chaotic and unsafe.

Maybe I'm being overly critical. I'm not sure. Am I just salty after being so enthused by Donkey Kong 94? Or is this game genuinely a disappointing successor to that game? Well, to be honest, I don't even think Mario vs Donkey Kong succeeds at being a very interesting puzzle platformer in its own rights.

The game feels so sluggish; not just control wise but also in terms of level design. Plenty of puzzles; primarily later on required me to wait around so much without anything interesting to keep me entranced.

I wouldn't even mind the puzzles being slower paced if they weren't so piss easy. There were very few instances where I felt like I had to think to solve these puzzles. The colored switches are certainly interesting but manage to streamline the puzzles even further. It doesn't help that solutions feel so railroaded and straightforward.

I could have written an entire essay all about how this game is the antithesis to Donkey Kong 94's bitesized and fast paced yet challenging puzzle platforming, but I don't even need to compare the two games to find Mario vs Donkey Kong painfully average. To be fair, I enjoyed it when I was much younger (although I never made it past world 2). I think both my perception with its predecessor and puzzle platformers in general has spoiled me from enjoying this game nowadays, though.

(Oh, and what the hell is going on with the art direction? The backgrounds, enemies, and set pieces are, like, all completely different styles that constantly clash with each other. It's yucky.)

The turn of the millennium was a huge leaping point for the Sonic series. Not simply because SEGA's final console was on the brink of passing or because development was being outsourced to different studios more often. The design philosophy of Sonic had also radically changed. Rather than achieve a blend of platforming, speed, and exploration the 90s installments had established and then perfected by 3&K and Adventure, Adventure 2 chose to emphasize each element in its separate play styles. Namely, the Sonic/Shadow levels heavily focused on speed. There was still a decent amount of platforming and exploration of course, but memorization, quick reaction, and spectacle were what truly defined these stages.

This design philosophy proceeded to bloom in future installments and had evolved into the infamously beloved boost formula. While the boost made its true debut in Rush, Sonic Advance 2 really laid the groundwork for the formula. After playing it relatively safe with the first Advance, DiMPS sought to give Advance 2 more of its own identity. New movement options were included to increase the flow and speed, from the trick actions to the boost mode, and the levels followed the philosophy of Adventure 2 much more closely. It was the perfect blend of both the simpler 2D Sonic gameplay and the spectacle of the newer 3D games.

However, many find Advance 2 incredibly flawed. Some would argue it's a straight up bad game. I don't share this sentiment anymore, although I do think it sadly misses the landing of being a truly great, if even good first 2D outing for Sonic's new philosophy.

On paper, a speed focused Sonic game doesn't translate to 2D nearly as graciously. It's much harder to properly react to obstacles when they're all on the same plane as you. Even the genesis games suffered from this and their best solution was to separate the speed and platforming segments entirely. Compounded with a much smaller screen resolution on the GBA and you have a recipe destined to be flawed.

In all fairness, Advance 2 tries its best to remedy this limitation. Leaf Forest and Hot Crater can be easily sped through without any struggle. However, they lack much substance at all, really. They're not offensive, but they don't leave much impact either. On the bright side, Music Plant and Ice Paradise pick up the slack. These two zones feature plenty of memorable set pieces and a decent challenge while still maintaining the speed and flow.

From this point forward, however, Advance 2 begins to nosedive. Sky Canyon and Techno Base ramp up the difficulty even more, but the only way they could execute challenge was through trial and error. This isn't inherently awful, but when your punishment is a date with a bottomless pit, it turns these situations into incredibly tedious games of memorization and lightning fast reaction. Egg Utopia is thankfully a solid final level and not nearly as punishing.

The levels are a mixed bag overall, although I have to praise how seamlessly they all flow. You're never forced to stop dead in your tracks; you can constantly maintain your speed. Of course, you're unlikely to keep that speed unless you memorize these stages to a T, but it makes replaying them all the more satisfying.

Sadly, I can't give much praise to the bosses. It's admittedly impressive they managed to create so many bosses with the same template as Mushroom Hill's. Except having to fight essentially the exact same boss over and over again isn't very engaging, especially when you're forced to fight them all again in a boss rush. I don't even find them very offensive (besides Sky Canyon and Techno Base's), I just get sick of how formulaic and samey they all feel.

The biggest caveat of Advance 2 has to be the special stages. I don't think there's ever been worse method for entering special stages in a Sonic game. You're required to explore the main acts and collect seven special rings. Beyond the prevalent screen crunch, these levels really weren't designed for exploration as they're constantly pushing you forward. Occasionally, it's straight up impossible to return to an earlier part of the stage without resetting, and you lose all your special rings if you do so.

The other playable characters don't suffer from this nearly as much, and honestly it's nice being able to utilize their abilities as otherwise they're practically superficial. If only chaos emeralds were shared between all the characters...

Thankfully, the special stages themselves aren't nearly as miserable. They're actually fairly easy; you simply run around an empty field filled with rings and you'll earn a chaos emerald if you collect 300 before the timer ends. They're way more fun than the special stages for the other Advance games, at least.

I can't say Advance 2 is a good experience overall, but I can at least call it a guilty pleasure of mine. Under the simplest circumstances, I can squeeze enjoyment out of the game. It's a mindless yet decently fun romp with plenty of spectacle and personality. I definitely wouldn't have learned to appreciate it more if it wasn't for my partner. So, I'd love to give a huge shout out to them for helping me realise Advance 2 isn't irredeemable after all!