It's a little too simple (even for Kirby). Power sets are shallow because there's so many of them, but mixing and matching elements to obtain them is the game's real joy. Its misty, low-poly diorama-world is also pretty enchanting. Awesome soundtrack.

Irresistibly cute, with its lovely sprites, sassy animations, and fizzy color palettes. It also handles much better than previous entries in the series. The main issue is that its dungeons, apart from the first, aren't very fun at all. The story's nice, the hub town's lovely.

A remarkably tight beat-'em-up with style to spare, and a timeless, acid techno soundtrack. Puts you into a flow state in no time (unless you're playing Blaze). Enemy waves feel reasonable and every character has a well-rounded toolkit. A couple bosses are lame.

A real lightning-in-a-bottle situation whose legacy Nintendo has struggled with ever since, Melee truly birthed the "platform fighter" while setting a new fighting-game standard for roster, music, visual inventiveness, and single-player content. Era-defining.

One of those dorky, 80-hour JRPGs. This one's held aloft by a likable, fleshed-out core cast, a half-mindless active-combat system, a shocking end-of-Disc-1 plot twist, mostly-good dungeon design, and heaps of cool optional content. Zelos > Kratos

I admire the Gamecube's tropical aesthetic turn, and I love Sunshine's sense of place, stage themes, new NPC races, boss fights, and hidden Shines; and even some FLUDD-less sections. But if I ever have to do that one Yoshi mission again I will kill myself.

Shadow's debut. Chao Garden. City Escape. Awful lip-syncing. The Pumpkin Hill rap. "Live and Learn." Controllable walking Eggman. Awful voice sync. Giant lizard in space. "Shadow fucks?" Transcendentally dumb. A way of life. Rouge's stages can fuck off, though.

The main double-rider mechanic is visually cute but pretty pointless, the courses oscillate between great and terrible, the handling is a bit off. But there's something delightfully kooky about its whole tone, and I love the car designs on offer. Classic Gamecube jank.

Hades is a hollow, but enjoyable, action "roguelite" that really just wants to be a straight adventure. The moment-to-moment action is fine, if a bit weightless. The writing is okay (there is lots of it), though somewhat cloying and twee. Wholesome or horny: Pick One

Inane story elements aside, a flawed-but-interesting action-RPG that incorporates roguelike and card game elements into real-time combat, which is all pretty unique. Riku's campaign is enjoyable as a built-in Hard mode, especially w/r/t boss fights.

A "hidden gem" whose merit is overstated online. A cute, zesty platformer with a neat gimmick, and a fairly cool final boss fight. The character and mech designs are probably more memorable than the game itself. You could always count on GameFreak for style.

Its turn towards dark fantasy is appreciated (and it's a looker), but it forever messed with the series' balance by allowing you to grind your way out of a tight spot. It's got some other, half-assed ideas, like a branching-paths system and post-game dungeon.

Though the extended tutorial scenario is grating for anyone but first-timers, the main campaign is pretty good, and nicely streamlines the SNES titles' gameplay while sanding down FE6's (very) rough edges. Love the character designs, too.

Despite being a "Metroidvania" there's something pleasantly old-school about it. The DSS Card system is interesting in its myriad applications, though the cards don't feel like they should be random drops. Lots of cool bosses. Too dark for the GBA screen!

A really cool streamlining of the Symphony of the Night formula for handhelds. Gives you the same vertiginous sense that there's so much to find and explore, thanks to the Soul Equip and weapons systems, and the multiple endings. Boss Rush is pretty fun, too.