The pacing and classic Micro Machines birds-eye perspective combine to make this a fairly difficult Micro Machines game (though nothing on the level of Turbo Tournament). You can barely see where you're going before falling off somewhere, which was less of an issue I encountered when I played V3. The beauty of the game is it respawns you very quickly and any setback you face gets remedied pretty fast due to the fast pace. The tracks and powerups do feel fairly thoughtless and uninspired even for their time, though some tracks are more fun than others. The characters and their unique vehicles were a fun and campier avenue for the franchise.

While 4 is usually the favourite from what I've seen, for me the clear peak of the musou formula is in DW5 and its expansions. Even further tweaks to gameplay were made that saw the removal of the lock-on effect during combos (the best change) giving you more fluidity in your combos which were extended to like 9 hits or so. This provides more options and a more dynamic gameplay experience which, lets face it, does become a little mundane even for hack and slash enjoyers. The movesets are so tight and feel so unique to each of the characters. The way they're executed is reflected really appropriately for the character's personalities which all feel very fully realised in 5 as well as their look and design. In spite of these gameplay elevations it is really the story that takes centre stage in 5 for me. While it clearly follows the same narrative throughout the franchise over and over again, the presentation of the storyline feels fully realised here.
There are some gimmicks like the god-mode powerup thingy I don't even know what its called, and the joint-musou attack with your bodyguard, that do make this game substantially easier just across the board. Though, I don't mind it as for me bearing witness to this game's iteration of the characters and story always made this Dynasty Warriors the real treat for me.
To discuss some flaws, mounted combat still sucks and going into the arrow shooting mode feels as trivial and pointless as usual. Also the artstyle in this game is great albeit very dusty(?) Honestly if you've played the game before you'll know what I mean. It just looks very dusty all the time lolllll. This will always be my game though <3

One of my first gaming experiences as a child, so I have a nostalgia bias. That being said, the game is so punishing to play with extremely difficult steering mechanics and a huge amount of downtime when you're hit by a hazard or item. Easily the hardest game in the series and Mario Kart fans who go back to play this one are in for a severe shock because playing this game for the first time is the most "what the f***" experience.
That being said there is an allure and charm to the game's style and characters and its a hilarious time with friends who are particularly competitive as with most MK games. An iconic, foundational beginning for the franchise.

This game had immense potential.
The amiibo-like figurine collecting to play more characters was frankly genius of the developers, though rough on the consumer's wallet.
The concept of skill trees for the Skylanders was also so ahead of its time when you consider that games like Overwatch 2 have promised (and failed) to deliver on this kind of concept coupled with PvE gameplay. This game was attempting so many promising things, but unfortunately the actual gameplay was too grounded in this linear story mode that lacked replayability unless you were going in to find one of the hidden unlockables in a level to grant you a new skill for a character. So once you cleared the game you didn't even care much about replaying it with the new Skylanders you just went out and bought and it became more of a collectable gimmick than the great game it could have been. Gameplay gimmicks in the subsequent titles also did very little to invigorate them. As a young teen I remember playing the story perhaps twice before getting bored because beyond it the game offers very little.

If this game re-released with online multiplayer and some new game-modes for more difficult endgame play it could seriously reach new heights.

Having played a number of other Mario Party games this one just loses me from the get-go. The idea of all moving together just sucks full stop. There is a noticeable lack of strategy which just leaves a gaping void in your heart when you've played other titles in the series and expect a decent level of agency on the board. There is no point to playing this over any other MP game whatsoever.
That being said, it's Mario Party, so with a group you can kinda just have a good time, play some minigames and chug along without it being the end of the world. Though personally based on what I like in the series, it is the most inferior version of the ones I've played.

Kinda overlooked in the series and has a lot going for it. The closer perspective to the board lets you see a lot of fun details within them, not to mention the board concepts themselves are so much fun (the Shy Guy Express one was always my favourite.)
The motion controls for the Wii feel a bit clunky in many of the mini-games, which otherwise are quite decent across the board except a few ones that do feel inexcusably silly to play.
The character cast in this game one of the more fun ones. While it features a lot of the classic characters it also has some random ones like Blooper and Hammer Bro which was pretty random for its time.
Honestly deserves more appreciation in the series.

Despite the fact that this doesn't control very well its a fairly decent karting game.
The big standout to me is the hilarious unique vehicles each of the characters have. The tracks aren't the most exciting, but they do have some unique features on them.
An issue with the game lies with the powerups which come across as fairly thoughtless and half of them have the similar function of being some kind of missile, while others like the pixie dust speed booster thingy which you can somehow get in first place, sends you absolutely flying if you hold the use item button. The items truly feel like they were made just so the game would have items.
I'm always a huge fan of karting games that have a live leaderboard where they can't implement a live map, this one is extra neat because it also shows when someone has been hit by a certain item used by another racer. It also has an acceleration meter, another highly preferably feature.
One of the funniest mechanics in the game is that your character still goes sliding forward when they're hit by an obstacle, you don't really lose any momentum as with most other karters.
Not super polished but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

The story of Mortal Kombat, until its reboot after this game, felt really perfect for me... Except for the storyline and lore introduced in this game... Nonsensical, contrived and just so far removed from all the previous lore that it just feels out of place to put it lightly.
It is great to have the entire cast back, doing it before it was cool - and it felt appropriate to the premise of the game to bring everyone back. However, its the double-edged sword that defines this game. As with having such a large cast (which, for the last few games of the series all rely on having unique fighting stances) it led to the homogenisation of pretty much the entire cast. A significant number of them play the same and each character feels a bit lost in the storm with few getting much of a chance to shine.
The Kreate a Fighter idea isn't bad but it's not great either. It's quite fun to mess around with though. The same concept has been done better in other fighters of the time.

Being a karting fanatic, the Motor Kombat mode was what I was partial to and even it needed some serious finetuning (but for a side mode, what could I expect?) The controls and steering just feel horrific, but it is fun that the characters all have their own unique move to use as a powerup rather than relying on item pickups which was a wise choice. It obviously features a limited cast of the same eight characters if I'm remembering correctly. It has some great features like a live leaderboard and acceleration meter, it's just let down dramatically by its unwieldiness.

By no means the best karting game in the Crash series. However it's a very fun playthrough nonetheless. The premise of the story is honestly very funny and the cutscenes are quite enjoyable.
The art style of the game is quite good looking and the mechanic of being able to hop/jump in your vehicle in the game always felt like a clever choice so that the game could incorporate elements of the series' classic platformer playstyle.
The live leaderboard and accel. meter are nice ubiquitous features across karters of the time. The live map with coloured dots to indicate certain characters wasn't perfectly implemented in this game and is hard to see and comprehend while also driving, and is done far better by its follow up CTTR as with just about everything else.
The primary issue with this game for me is how SLOW it is. Like, seriously. Among the slowest karters I've played (Probably a big plus for beginners, young kids or people who struggle with faster-paced racing.)