A really good puzzle game with a very cool mechanic. The art style and music are both charmingly simple. The only thing is that I feel like the game is too hard, either that or I’m just bad at it. But I feel like the game would benefit from a small hint system to help people who are stuck that could keep them from just looking up the solution when they get stuck.

Updating my review to say that I kept thinking about coming back and finishing the game but it kept making me feel annoyed. A lot of later levels get too difficult and I feel even worse when using a guide for a puzzle game like this. Skill issue, I know. But I don’t see myself coming back and finishing this anytime soon.

Right off the bat, I can't even think of anything I didn't like about this game. The only times I would get mad at it would be when I kept losing to the same guy when I just needed to get good. I enjoyed using the motion controls for throwing punches until I realized that there were button controls and they were objectively better, but younger me still enjoyed swinging the remote and nunchuck to punch my way to victory.

All of the characters were charming in their own ways and I never really got tired of listening to what they had to say since it was usually somewhat funny. They all have their own distinct personalities and fighting styles and it was always very satisfying to find their hints on what they were about to do in order to dodge or block it. Finding the little secret special spots to hit them for stars or instant knock outs was always great, as well. I've played this game so many times that I don't really start having problems until the second fighter in the world cup, and even then, I might just need a few minutes to remember how to fight him and everyone else after him. Also, a good portion of the music in the game is really good and all of them pretty much fit the fighter they're paired with. Also, the secret boss is insane and as I'm writing this from memory, I'm not sure if I've ever actually beaten the secret boss or not.

Title defense mode is where the real challenge is and it truly is a challenge. Needing to fight everyone again after they've all been made more difficult can be anywhere from pretty annoying to almost impossible. But that just makes it even more gratifying after you defeat each one.

Exhibition mode is a good way to practice for a fight that you're stuck on, but it also offers a lot of little challenges for fighters that you've already defeated. Some are trivial while others are maddening and require several attempts to get.

Multiplayer is a fun little game mode to play with someone else but I didn't play it too much so I don't have a lot to say about it. The special power was fun to use in this mode, though.

This game is what solidified this series as one om my favorites and, in my opinion, one of the best video game series out there.

The graphics are a major step up from the last game and I think they are still pretty good today. Of course it isn't perfect since the game came out almost 20 years ago, but they are still pretty good.

The gameplay in this game is also improved from the previous game. The physics feels very intuitive and nothing feels very wonky at all. The weapons are fun to use and each one has its own strengths (my favorites are the shotgun and crossbow). It also isn't terribly difficult, so this game is very playable for the majority of players. There are just a few tricky situations where you need to be careful. Using the various vehicles throughout the game is also quite fun to do for various reasons. There is also the mandatory scary part of the game that was the hardest for me since I am not a fan of being scared at all. That also happened to be my least favorite part to play through even though the story was still very compelling.

The story is the main reason I think many people play this game and series. First off, all of the characters are very memorable in their own ways. And it is always interesting to see them interact with each other and you in the game world rather than going to a cutscene. The setting is able to hook you instantly since it shows you right off the bat exactly the type of world you have been dropped into and you are compelled to move along with the story because you want to see what happens. But no amount of reading can make you appreciate the story of this series, so you need to just play it.

The only annoying parts of trying to 100% this game were a few achievements. The first was trying to find all of the caches in the game. The game is just really long and there are a lot of caches, so it was just annoying. The next one was completing Ravenholm with just the gravity gun since it was annoying to keep trying to find objects to use as weapons instead of just using your guns. Everything else was either story related or not too ridiculous.

A fun automation game that is very easy to binge. It's fun to get the robots set up to start doing the things you don't want to do, but can be annoying too set up robots at times since you need to show them how to do the thing by doing it yourself, which can be tricky if what they need to do depends on something else happening.

It can be tricky to get your area set up nicely since you are sort of just going along with what you are told what to do, so your area can quickly become a tangled mess of buildings and robots.

It's a fine game that looks really good. I just had a few minor complaints.