Ah. That’s more like it.

As the one person I know who likes Donkey Kong Country, Drill Dozer, and that one burrowing escape sequence from Ori and the Will of the Wisps, I knew Pepper Grinder was going to be right up my alley. What impressed me though, was just how precisely the game melded its influences into something that felt simultaneously fresh yet familiar. The level design is classic obstacle escalation (introduce a concept, scale it up, throw in a twist, and then run the player through a final exam into their victory lap) with DKC inspired secrets with skull coin collectibles for unlocking secret levels. Many of the usual formula beats are present as well to force execution tests, from the usual moving parts in the forms of cannons, rope swings, and grappling points, to constantly present sources of danger like the freezing ocean or the temporary dirt patches created from cooling lava. What sets Pepper Grinder apart however, is that the terrain itself is the main obstacle. It feels like such a natural pairing to seamlessly mesh environmental navigation with the course’s very foundation, and the best moments of the game lean into funneling the player through various layers of shifting and isolated terrain while tearing through all that may stand in their way.

That said, I think to really understand the nuances of Pepper Grinder, one has to readily commit to its time attack mode. I could have been sold on the game-feel alone as an amalgam of Donkey Kong Country’s momentum physics and Drill Dozer’s force feedback, but playing under circumstances that force you to squeeze every possible second out of the timer gives the player a better appreciation of its movement mechanics. Pepper is not very fast on foot, nor can she naturally jump very far. Therefore, you’d think that most speed comes from tunneling through terrain, but it’s not quite that either. Rather, the player has to maintain momentum through the interplay of drilling and jumping by exiting terrain via the drill run (boosting right as you’re about to leave a patch of dirt), which commits the player to the projected arc leaving the terrain but with the reward of significantly more speed. The result is some of the weightiest and most satisfying movement I have ever experienced in any platformer. I was constantly figuring out new ways to save seconds by timing by boosts both within terrain and right before exiting terrain (since you can’t just spam boost and using it too early can lock you out from getting the necessary boost jump out of terrain), skipping certain obstacles entirely with well-placed drill runs, and figuring out how to manage my health to bypass unfavorable cycles and damage boost past mines and thorns. Some of those gold time attack medals were tight ordeals, but I absolutely savored every moment of the grind.

Bosses as a whole are a significant improvement from the usual quality of those in Donkey Kong Country. You’re not safe just waiting above ground, and burrowing to dodge attacks forces you to at least dash-dance underground since drilling means you can’t stay in one place. As a result, the player is constantly on the move, and you’re incentivized to do so anyways given that most of the bosses require multiple hits to defeat and aren’t the usual “invincible until they’re done attacking” crop from DKC. The biggest complaint I can levy here is that boss hit/hurtboxes can feel imprecise; I’ve heard that many players have had difficulty figuring out how to correctly drill into the beetle boss’s underbelly, and while I had no issues there, I did die a few times from the skeleton king’s heel hitbox where there was no visible attack in its vicinity. Still, I much prefer these boss fights over many of its peers, and figuring out when and how to best aim drill runs from the ground to speedrun bosses was just as much of a pleasure as speedrunning the courses themselves.

There are a few questionable design choices that could be touched upon here. Firstly, there’s a shop system present where you can purchase optional stickers from a gacha machine as well as temporary health boosts. The former is mostly forgivable given that they don’t impact the gameplay otherwise and can be cleared in about three minutes of purchasing and opening capsules. That said, I feel as if the latter could be removed entirely given that I never felt pressured to purchase insurance for courses and bosses, especially because I was often taking hits anyways to skip past obstacles and because you’re not going to regain the extra health capacity in-level once it’s gone. Secondly, bosses in time-attack mode force you to watch their opening unskippable cutscenes before getting to the action, and this gets extremely irritating when you’re constantly restarting fights to get better times. Finally, Pepper Grinder has a few gimmick areas in the forms of a couple of robot platforming segments, two snowmobile sections where you just hold forward on the control stick, and a couple of run-and-gun levels with little drilling involved. I can look past most of these given that they don’t take up much time and that I enjoyed all the minecart levels from DKC as is, though I do wish that they spaced the gimmicks apart a bit more given that levels 4-3 and 4-4 both have significant run and gun segments sending each course off.

If I did have any lasting complaints, it would be that I just want more of this game. Most players will finish adventure mode in under four hours. That said, even despite a lack of polish here and there, I absolutely adore Pepper Grinder. At this time of writing, I’ve 100%ed the game and even gone back to a few time trials after snagging all the gold medals just to further polish my records. It’s often difficult for me to pin down what makes a game feel good to play, but in this case, I just know. Pepper Grinder feels like an adrenaline rush made just for me, and though its execution barriers and short length will likely make this a tough sell for many, it is undoubtably some of the most fun I have had with a game this year. If you’re curious or enjoy anything that I’ve discussed in this write-up, please give the demo a shot. They don’t make 2D platformers like this anymore, and Pepper Grinder’s existence leaves me wondering why when they absolutely killed it on their first try.

An absolute masterclass in how to remake a game from several generations back, Resident Evil 4 keeps everything you remember being cool and updating things you forgot were outdated and does it all with style and perfection.

The story is B movie excellence and I love every second of it. Leon is a quip machine and a hell of a hero and every other character is wonderfully realized. Ashley, in particular, is someone I truly care about getting off the island alive and well. Luis is a suave and shady wingman. Ada, despite some flat voicework now and again, is a perfect self-serving yet still on-your-side counterpart. Even Mike the chopper pilot is a great addition and you can't even see his face! The story and characters sing at every moment, and the villains also bring a much needed screen-chewing presence. I love Krauser a LOT.

The gameplay is also top notch, setting a standard that I'm sure will be replicated for years to come. Precise aiming controls, great change ups to how you fight enemies throughout the game, and some truly memorable boss fights culminate in an absolutely stunning experience for the full playthrough.

I'm a big fat dumb baby when it comes to horror, but the balance between scary moments and action thrills is JUST right here. The Regenerators had me pausing the game and just cursing to myself, like it would make them go away. But an hour later I'd be blasting ganados with a shotgun and grinning as they all flew down a staircase.

I watched other people play the original 2005 game (see: big fat dumb baby) and the changes they made here like removing QTEs and updating character dialog and story (Ashley is massively improved) are all exactly what it needed to maintain both a remembrance for what came and an update for what is.

RE4 is a blat to play from beginning to end. Highly recommend. (It also has a gun called Killer7 which not only kicks ass as a weapon, but references one of my absolute favorite games.)

Somewhere inside hides
a compelling score of 10.
Fleshed out and built up.

Vibrant colors fall
like leaves enveloping the
labyrinth in charm.

Beckoned to explore,
find secrets, and discover
truth, this was heaven.

Yet an ending came
for which I was not prepared.
I still wanted more.

A second act was needed.
Perfection, just missed.

Really enjoyable but sadly cut short, this is basically an indie castlevania clone with its own flourishes so if you like sotn style castlevania games (with multiple weapons and spells and such) you’ll probably love this. Infact, gameplay wise, I may even like it more than sotn and aria of sorrow, which is high praise, because it offers a really interesting and unique elemental spirit system that is fun to use and a bunch of welcome quality of life changes like being able to strike diagonally and upwards. The bow is also a great addition but can be a little awkward to control. There’s a great range of weapons, and though its very linear, the action is constant and rewarding, encouraging aggressive, close quarters fighting instead of hunkering down and fighting from a distance, since you want to keep your elementals’ ‘meters’ up to dish out max damage and gradually restore hp.

This is also a gorgeous looking game with some really wonderful pixel art and animations. There’s weight and intensity behind all attacks and genuine expressiveness in its characters and sentimental moments which is often missing from similarly styled games. Deedlit is a cool character with a fabulous design and the story is quite lean and easy to follow, but still meaningful and drives the game forward nicely.

Despite the lovely animations and effects in isolation though, boss fights can be a bit of a visual mess, with too much busyness to keep track of things, especially when you need to watch your tiny hp, ap and both elemental bars whilst you’re fighting. Its nice having enemy health bars onscreen mind you, and sometimes the cluttered visuals were cool in their own right during particularly frantic encounters, but there’s also times where the very intentional, methodical vania style combat verges on being a bullet hell game and it doesn’t really work too well. This, the length and maybe some grating audio does hold it back a little, but not enough to make this anything but a great metroidvania that is 100% worth checking out.

Another excellent side-scrolling adventure in the Mario series, Wonder finally updates and changes the godawful "New" series of games that everyone was tired of (and I personally hated). This entry continues the Mario formula of every level having a brand new, fantastically fun concept that is introduced, mastered, and then immediately dropped in favor of something else. Every level is a wild thing to try and master and it continually feels brand new every single time.

Wonder also introduced badges, a kind of "always on" power like higher jumping or the ability to touch lava or poison once per stage and not die. These are a fun addition, especially the badge challenge stages that ask you to master these powers in rapid succession. The new powers, like Elephant and Bubble, are also a lovely addition.

The signature "Wonder Flower" also randomly changes each level into it's own minigame, often with crazy challenging results or, when not that difficult, still wildly fun to play. On top of that, the Special World, with all the insanely difficult levels, is slowly dolled out through the game instead of coming ALL at once at the end. This keeps the challenge fresh, coming every once in a while instead of in bulk, and makes them a blast to conquer throughout the playtime. Some of these levels are...well, I swore at my TV a handful of times. A choice two or three are pretty rough, but I 100% the game because it's incredibly rewarding to do so.

As per usual, the bosses are a joke and a pushover. The story doesn't matter and all the characters play the exact same. The new voice actor for Mario and Luigi, however, does a very good job! Certain phrases that Luigi says don't always land, but it's just hard not to think of Charles, as he IS Mario and has been since 1996 (technically even before that!). "Woowie-zoowie" is maybe the worst thing they could have added? Don't do that anymore.

It feels great to finally play a side-scrolling Mario game again with a fresh art style, fun mechanics, and perfectly designed levels. If you're wanting to just beat the game, you'll likely find it to be a baby game for babies. However, if you go for completionism, you'll find a deeply challenging and rewarding game with a charm that's hard to ignore.

HOWEVER - one of the medals, end game items for completing certain tasks, is for literally owning all the standees, which are stupid pointless things that don't matter. That sucks and is dumb and bad. It's one of the few objectively poor choices and I'm mad I wasted so much time to get it. But you know, I needed that 100% so...

Another wonderful, and unfortunately final, game from Mimimi Games. Following in the footsteps of their other two real-time tactical strategy gems Desperados III and Shadow Tactics, this game takes those ideas and expands them with a huge cast of eccentric undead pirates as you explore islands searching for treasure and ghostly mysteries.

The voice acting is all extremely fun and adds a lot to the world and some of the personal stories for each pirate are as surprisingly touching as they are charming. The gameplay, like the others Mimimi excels at, is sharp and refined, giving you full control over how to stealthily take down your enemies without ever raising an alarm. The thrill of setting up a complex multi-character plan and pulling it off without a hitch always feels super satisfying.

The games have always been very upfront about save-scumming being integral to the overall way to enjoy the game by trying new tactics if something goes awry, but the story here manages to incorporate a reason for it happen since the plotline has more fantastical/magical elements to it. It's a welcome little addition!

There are not enough islands to explore so it starts to feel a bit repetitive in the back half. Also, although the giant cast is great, it hurts the overall story with less focus. The side stories are also cute but ultimately worthless. They add nothing other than some simple backstory, which is mostly annoying to get through as it's just busywork with paragraphs of dialog. Desperados III used mo-cap for cutscenes and it hurts to see it absent here, replaced with still images (that are very pretty!) and voiceover.

It's a shame then that Mimimi is closing shop, but they'll always has these fantastic games for all to play. The DLC and post game content here has legs, so you'll not be wanting. A stellar way to end their time in the video game field, but here's hoping we'll see them again one day.

I adore the original release of this game and it will likely always be in my top ten. When I saw the announcement trailer, my heart skipped a beat and then, almost immediately upon seeing it in action, I felt very worried.

Unfortunately, the worries were warranted. The game does has plenty going for it: a wonderfully nostalgic feel, beautifully remade music by the same composer Yoko Shimomura , and a battle system that has aged like fine wine. Timed hits and blocks make RPG battles consistently fun and the same holds true with this remake.

The downside comes with almost everything else. It's far, far too easy. The original SNES was never a crazy challenge, but this version has made it significantly less so with attacks that seemingly do more damage coupled with a "splash" effect that damages other enemies when a timed hit is done. It makes most battles trivial and boss battles an absolute joke. On top of that, a new mechanic is added where a gauge can be filled to 100% and a triple move can be preformed with the three party members currently on the field. It's very powerful and, despite being flashing and fun to look at, I simply stopped using it because it did TOO much damage in a game that's already a pushover.

On top of that, you can switch party members mid-battle AND the item inventory is insanely huge. Previously, party members could not be swapped during a fight, calling for strategic planning beforehand. Item management was crucial as space was very limited, but I didn't even think about items once because whenever you have any overflow, it just automatically sends them to a box for you to pull from later. I never even opened that box once.

The art direction is an odd one for me. The updated graphics are nice at a glance, but in practice, they feel somehow worse than the original. The animations are stilted, which I understand is a way to evoke the SNES, but it feels cheap and undercooked here. On top of that, cutscenes have been added for key plot beats or openings to certain boss fights. These, too, feel underwhelming, as half of them don't have basic sound effects until they sometimes occasionally do, making it feel rushed and second-rate.

The game also desperately needs a harder difficulty. A lot of these quality of life improvements would go great with a game that challenged you a bit, but other than two fights, both of which take place in the same area, almost nothing requires more than passive button pressing if you know how to time attacks and blocks. There is a post game boss challenge, but it's somewhat tedious and absolutely too little too late.

Super Mario RPG is a unique and amazing game on original hardware. It has an excellent cast of characters, a fun and engaging story, and a battle system worthy of praise. As a Switch remake however, it simply doesn't do enough to bring any of that into the present and makes notably poor choices in dumbing down an experience that could have used more challenge, a better art direction, and some fun changes and updates. It truly is faithful to a fault, for better and worse. I had some fun and the nostalgic bliss certainly rushed over me, but it's grossly undercut by some glaring and unignorable issues.

I can and will wholeheartedly recommend the game, but only the original.