Story Mode Log:
Doesn't blow me away enough to say it's better than 2's story mode, but not really worse? Though I have to say, Octo Expansion still stays on top as far as single player campaigns for me. Unlike past titles, it didn't really give me any reason to care more about the new idols or even give me a clue about their personalities. I feel like the characters in 1 and 2 are infinitely stronger and more fleshed-out designs, and I feel like this campaign could have benefited
from just sticking to past tropes rather than trying to be new and not getting all the way there. Although it doesn't succeed at open-world, unfortunately, I would love to see that for the franchise at some point. With the boss fights being fewer and far between, (even if the manta boss being a huge Mario sunshine reference got a kick out of me) it made for a less memorable story mode, and the only thing that got me psyched was my big salmon buddy. Maybe not the best Splatoon campaign, but still a fun time!

I first played this when I was 16... and it was my first real sonic game. As a complacent enjoyer of b movies, it's entirely on brand that I love this cheesy "b movie" of a game. It doesn't exactly stand up to what Mario and other franchises were doing at the time, but regardless it boasts a fun (at times, very broken) and unique gameplay structure, introduces iconic characters, and has one of the best video game soundtracks ever. There's tons to do in this game after beating the main stories, too.

Nothing deserves a full-fledged remake quite like SA1 & 2 do.

There's really no reason to play RBY when you have this (except for getting exclusives). Crystal is such a packed game, especially for its time, despite how crazy the pacing is. Definitely the best of the GB/C Pokemon selection, boasting a really streamlined visual experience. Prepare to devote at least 100 hours to just beating this game normally, both of my normal playthroughs have taken that long. Compared to gens 3-5 it leaves a lot to be desired and requires a lot of patience, which is why I wouldn't put it up against most newer entries. It is pretty cool for what it is, though.
251/251 Pokemon Caught
16/16 Gym Badges
350+ Hours

I first need to give a disclaimer that I started the MK franchise in 3D, having never played the original which probably biases my opinion a bit.
I paid ~$15 bones for this loose a few years ago, and now that I've played my fill, do I feel like I really got my money's worth? There's no unlockable incentives, and no reason for me to gold-out the cups on 150cc- getting all gold on 100cc felt like enough completion because of that. Additionally, with owning MKDS alone, I don't really know if I have reason to come back to this one, and I’m not even sure if it warrants a stay in my collection.
I do think this game is impressive in its pseudo(semi?)-3D graphics- always a really cool thing to see on the GBA, like with Monkey Ball Jr. and Spyro. However- and this is probably because I've never played the OG- the completely flat tracks became way too repetitive for me, even though there are so many of them. It feels contradictory to have so many tracks but for so many of them to be slight regurgitations of each other. Whatever, Cheese Land is my favorite track.

I have to be realistic when reviewing this... if you didn't play this as a kid, then it's understandable why you might not get why people like this so much. This was my first ever video game- they had the old McDonald's kiosks at my daycare and I would run around Deflino Plaza and Bianco Hills, admiring everything about this game before I could even read. It became extremely elusive to me, because I never had a GameCube as a kid, and by the time we had a Wii I had no idea it could play these games. I actually only first got my own copy at PRGE in 2018.

There's no doubt that this game is a challenge, but I honestly end up having fun anyways. I don't blame this aspect for turning off other players, though. F.L.U.D.D is such a fun gimmick that gives the game so much whimsy anyways that it kind of balances out that element for me. My main personal gripe is just the rushed ending and amount of blue coins- my biggest wish for this game would to one day see an expanded version with a fleshed out ending and additional shine challenges (but not overly-updated graphics or anything... it's already visually perfect). I don't care if it's not the best Mario game on a technical level or whatever, it's my personal favorite and has a special place in my heart.