Pros: Massive 3D Metroidvania game, with huge interconnected worlds that you travel back and forth between. This game was the closest we'd felt to one seamless living game world, before "open world" gaming became a thing. Banjo-Tooie is a fantastic sequel to Banjo-Kazooie, especially as a sequel, it follows up the events of the first game wonderfully, carrying over so much from the first. Every move you learned in B-K, you still have, and you learn tons of new moves on top of them. Characters you've met, you now see what they're up to, and they're up to quite a lot! If you're familiar with B-K and enjoyed yourself, you'll get a lot out of Tooie!

The big new gimmick is that Banjo and Kazooie can now separate and split-up, and you can switch between the two for character specific moves, that grant you access to new areas or enemy/character interactions. Or possibly using both separately and together for puzzle solving and triggering key events. It really helps magnify the "Metroidvania"ness of these games worlds, which, yeah, you will be backtracking in and out of frequently. It's a different flavor of game than B-K was, where it was very satisfying to complete each world in one go. Can't do that here, and while I don't enjoy Tooie's method as much, there's still a lot to value in what it brings to the sense of adventure.

Mumbo is of course back too, but this time fully playable! Though he just acts as another key type of character for puzzles and gates. Meanwhile newcomer Humba Wumba does the transformations this time around. And each stage now has their own transformation, and each of them are more elaborate than the ones in B-K were. Favorites among them, a snowball that grows or shrinks depending on if you're rolling over snow, or on volcanic ground. A van, yeah, you can straight up be a van that drives around running over enemies (which is pretty fun, admittedly). But my favorite of all is the giant T. Rex, which is just an invulnerable powerhouse, roaring and crashing through anything you desire (also you can be a baby T. Rex! Good to have the cute alongside the badass). All's this to say, this game is packed with content, and in most cases everything feels contextual and fun, and worth doing (unlike... ahem... DK64), and on top of it all, you still get the charm and wit from Rare with these beloved characters! And along with that is the once again excellent soundtrack by Grant Kirkhope, with brand new stages comes brand new music, and it's all fantastic here! And of course, the visuals are top-notch, expect nothing less from Rare.

Cons: The backtracking is a big ask, and can wear you down... It's especially tiresome on replays, where unlike B-K, you don't really have a good sense of when to take a break or a breather. The game could really use a map. And generally, the tone is a bit less cheery, which ain't specifically a bad thing, but it's another element that can make the playtime grow wearisome.

What it means to me: Upon first completion of this game, I was blown away, to the point where I considered this game, to be the best game ever made. Yeah, I was that into it. In time, my views have softened on the game, especially upon trying to replay it. Banjo-Kazooie (the first game) does hold up much better design-wise, in terms of playability, pacing, and so much more, it's just the perfect game. But I will say, Tooie is still a magnificent sequel, and did everything, and does everything, I wanted a sequel to Banjo-Kazooie to do. And I can't fault it there, it's the game it needed to be for its time, a time before Open World games were a thing. And what a hell of a time it was!

Pros: The graphics and animation in this are incredible, perhaps the best on the N64. The way the characters move their eyes and mouths, Conker especially, are so beyond what I thought the system was capable of. And fully voiced dialogue, with incredible lip syncing too. That alone make this one worth checking out. And there's tons of talking, tons, lots of inappropriate language too, and violence, and dumb movie references, and weird British humor all thrown into this odd mish-mash of a game. You play as Conker the Squirrel, y'know, the cute little bugger from Diddy Kong Racing and Conker's Pocket Tales for Game Boy Color. He's back, and he's doing what you'd expect, such as whackin cheese around with a giant frying pan. Okay, let's just skip to the best part of the game, shall we? The multiplayer. The multiplayer multiplayer multiplayer. Tons of different multiplayer modes, such as all out war, which is fun, Raptor, Heist, Race, and others. But the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and what makes this game still worth playing today, is a mode called 'BEACH', which is a asymmetric multiplayer mode where one team is without weapons trying to run to a base (the Frenchies), and the other team is trying to gun down these runners, up in a crow's nest style military camp that has a wide view of the land (these guys are the Tediz). This mode is a BLAST! It's surefire fun gunning down runners that are ever so close to passing through that safety door! But I preferred playing as the Frenchies, running away from bulletfire with wicked zigging and zagging moves, as I'd either be trying to get back to base, or taking a secret route to hit a button (a button that's in an area that makes you an open target to get gunned down easy), but if you do manage to hit the button, it blows up all of the Tediz! REVENGE! It's so much fun, and I still try to play it whenever the right company is in town.

Cons: The single player game can be a bit annoying, gameplay-wise. A lot of instances where you'll have to repeat some action over and over again that isn't very fun, and then you're rewarded with a dumb cutscene... and yeah, a lot of the cutscenes haven't aged well. They were edgy for their day, mostly fun for shock value of seeing a cartoony animal blow up to bloody bits or a paint can saying "fuck", but today, mmmmmeh.

What it means to me: I was in eighth grade when this game came out, which was the exact age group for something "mature" like this. It's the perfect middle schooler game, where someone of that age would find all this dumb shit hilarious. And I did. This was the South Park of video games.

Pros: Personality, tons of it. Yeah, the humor hasn't aged well, but Duke's vanilla smooth voice sure has! It's a decent FPS of the day, the kind where you're navigating mazes, looking for key cards, to open doors, which, I actually appreciate quite a bit. The game is fine! Lots to look at, lots to laugh at, it's amateurish, sure, but a solid game!... Damn, this game is good.

Cons: It's so over the top, it's really hard to say something like "Duke is misogynistic" when... c'mon, this is just dumb satire. I can't imagine anyone seriously looking to him as a role model... Then again, he does kick ass and chew bubble gum, despite being all out of gum.

What it means to me: This was my first FPS game next to... Next to Super 3D Noah's Ark. I'm not even kidding. I played these two back to back, and they couldn't be more different! Haha! I had a lot of fun being a little kid laughing at all of the "mature" jokes in this one. I felt a little sneaky playing it when I knew I wasn't allowed to, heheh... It's a good memory for that alone.

Pros: A traditional vertical shooter, arcade style, where the gimmick was a shop in-between missions, and this shop is where you could purchase new weapons and armor and such. Make money by doing basic missions, getting kills, etc. Really, it's simple, but playable, and the visuals/graphics are pretty great for the time too!

Cons: Somewhat mindless, and the money gimmick is kinda... lame? Yeah, it's lame. Still, a solid little shooter here, even if the money thing is dumb.

What it means to me: This was my first vertical shooter game, and I was always impressed with the graphics of it. Going back now, it's a bit basic, but it's not bad, satisfying effects and movement help keep it afloat.

Pros: Late 90s wrestling games were everywhere, and advertised a ton to kids in gaming magazines and such, so it was tough to avoid. And of all the wrestling video games, this one stood above the rest of the pack. WWF No Mercy was filled to the brim with customization and player choice, where you could set the rules any way you liked. Referee mode was a favorite, as was the character creation mode, pretty extensive for its day. But so much fun trying to pull off moves, jumpin out of the ring, grabbing weapons and blunt objects to whack the other wrestlers with. And of course, this is N64, you got four player support, and what a great time this was if you were a wrestling fan of that era.

Cons: And I'm not even a wrestling fan! So I guess I can't speak so much on the accuracy to the sport, but in terms of cons, the collision detection wasn't always the best, and I recall the feeling of "what the fuck am I doing" happening quite frequently, being stuck in a chokehold, or holding someone else in one, trying to figure out how to pull off a specific move while looking like a buffoon in the process. It's a bit jank, but hey, it's the 90s! Still a fun time.

What it means to me: Yeah, not a wrestling fan, so this is pretty special to make it to the list. Played this a ton with my brothers and step bros, it was just a good time, whether you were into wrestling or not. And it was just so darn silly! Making up rules, creating characters, it didn't take itself seriously at all, and it let us have fun!

Pros: Surprisingly fun little car game, especially the stunt course where it's essentially one giant skate park in a void outside of time and space (think the 3D Homer episode of the Simpsons) where there's odd geometric shapes all over the place, most of which are ramps for you to drive off of at weird angles, to try and get as many flips as you can while airborne. God, I spent so many hours on this thing, collecting Mountain Dew cans (yeah... that was the collectable...). And even the race tracks themselves, which take place in all sorts of different cities across the USA, have hidden keys to collect within them. Honestly, this was the only part of the game I remember, haha, the secret collectibles and stunt course! They were fun though, I swear!

Cons: The graphics muddy, the controls meh, and flipping on your back to reset your car seemed like a constant thing (that's most of my memories of this one), but it's the car racing itself that I don't remember being any great? I can't say for sure, but it's not what I came away with for this one.

What it means to me: Played that stunt course like it was the next iteration in the Tony Hawk franchise, trading the controller back and forth with my brothers to complete them, and outdo one another on those trick scores! Yeah, this was just a used game we bought at a video rental store, turned out to be more fun than we were expecting. Better than Cruis'n USA, that's pretty high praise I would think!

Pros: Simple city destruction game, a revival of the arcade classic, now with CGI ACM graphics not too dissimilar from Donkey Kong Country. Punch windows, eat people, tear apart and crush buildings in iconic cities, along with their familiar landmarks too! And watch them all collapse to dust, as you move on from location to location. It's fun for a while, especially playing three-player multiplayer, there's a camaraderie to the demolishing, that makes it a cathartic experience.

Cons: But it does get very repetitive, very fast. It's a braindead game, and I understand if that's necessary at times, but man, this one is hard to go back to.

What it means to me: This is one I played a bunch with my step brother and brother, so perfect for three players. And we had our fill. Me, being from Chicago, enjoyed visiting the city in the game, and kickin' the crap out of the Picasso sculpture in front of the Daley Plaza!

Pros: The story mode is an incredible adventure game, like, the hub world itself rivals Super Mario 64's and Banjo-Kazooie's, and this is a "racing" game. But it's so much fun to explore and discover secrets in, as you're either driving around in a go-kart, zoomin' over the waves in the hovercraft, or flying the skies in the air plane! The races are pretty fantastic too! Colorful detailed worlds with some pretty zippy track design, crafted around different vehicles, some all at once! It's not only fun, it's also very impressive! There are boss fights, lots of neat weapons and items, hidden minigames, and tons of Golden Balloons to collect. This game in many ways, surpasses Mario Kart 64!

Cons: It's a bit... cutesy? Also, Diddy Kong himself feels shoehorned in here, nothing about this game or universe feels like it's Donkey Kong Country. It feels that way, because Diddy literally was added last minute to this game... Well, I like Diddy, so it's not all that bad, but it also kinda feels cheap, and these characters would feel out of place in the world of DKC, in my opinion. Additionally, some of the later challenges are a tad annoying, silver coin and T.T. races and such. And lastly, the multiplayer isn't nearly as fun as Mario Kart 64's, especially the battle mode. It's the one area where MK64 has it beat, imo.

What it means to me: This was the first game I ever found out about online!! Before this, it was always some video game magazine like Nintendo Power. But yeah, logged onto Nintendo.com one day, saw Diddy flying an air plane, and my form of consuming gaming media was forever changed! Got this game later that year for Christmas, and had a great time playing it for weeks on end with my brothers.

Pros: The graphics are excellent, expansion pak requirements allowed them to pull off some pretty fancy shmancy lighting effects on considerably high poly models for the N64. They knew graphics were what put DKC on the map, so they couldn't cheap out for the N64 successor. Animations are also pretty vibrant, characters are full of plenty personality and movement, with, maybe even a little too much toony squash and stretch. But one thing's for sure, everyone looks full of life. And they control great, the base mechanics for movement and gameplay, actually feel solid. And these characters are all pretty fun, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are joined by newcomers Tiny, Lanky, and Chunky, in a grand open sandbox 3D platforming adventure game, like Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. It's huge, and being huge means it comes with the good and the bad. The good, the worlds are all vibrant and offer plenty of variety, colorful areas with boppy fun music, and some nice bonuses, like the entire arcade DK and even Rare's first game, Jetpac, fully playable.

Cons: The bad... the game forces backtracking by making you switch characters at specific areas, to then travel through areas to grab collectibles that only that specific Kong can collect, and often, these are areas you've been to before with other Kongs, artificially making the game feel bigger, when really it's just bloat. And it's not fun bloat either, not that bloat ever really is. They say it's the journey, not the destination, but if the journey is the same journey I've done three or four times before, and the destination is a purple banana, it's not much of a journey, or much a destination. So what's the point? They shoulda gotten rid of all that, just make it so any collectible can be grabbed by any Kong, and the abilities of the Kongs themselves are what allow you to gain access to new areas and challenges. That's all... I mean, that's a big fundamental change, but it would've saved the game. Oh well.

And for some personal annoyances, as a DK fan. Why Tiny and Chunky when Dixie and Kiddy are right there??? Also, I love Grant Kirkhope, his compositions in the Banjo-Kazooie series are perfection. But... His style doesn't really fit Donkey Kong, you know? Not everyone can be David Wise, sure, but Evelyne Novakovic and Kenji Yamamoto still nailed the style of DKC, which is more atmospheric and ambient. Whereas Grant's music is oompah-pah boppy bop xylophone goofaround. Not bad music, but not what I've come to expect from Donkey Kong... Also yeah, the over abundance of squash and stretch is a bit too toony for DK too. Look, I just really dug the "fractured realism" of the original DKC series, and this game doesn't really follow the same look and feel as them.

What it means to me: There was no game I was anticipating more when the N64 was revealed, than the future Donkey Kong 64. I would skip to the end of every issue of Nintendo Power I got in the mail, to see if it was listed in the "future release" section, and for years, nothing. Then out of the blue in 1999, it SHOWED UP!! I was, yeah, hyped. But, I had certain ideas for what a DK64 should be in my head, after years of hoping and dreaming. And those ideas didn't quite line up... Yes, I wanted a big 3D adventure game like Super Mario 64 and B-K, got that, but the rest? I imagined DK, Diddy, Dixie, and Kiddy, the four playable Kongs from the DKC trilogy, now all together for the four-player featured N64 system, like that was a marketable feature of the system! That and more animal buddies (we ended up getting Rambi and Enguarde in this, they're alright, but barely used, and you don't even ride them, eh) And of course, David Wise, the more naturalistic art style, etc etc. Instead we got a Banjo-Kazooie tryhard, and it feels kind of wrong comparing one of the worst 3D platformers to one of the best, but you can tell, this Rare team looked towards Banjo-Kazooie for direction, but dropped the ball hard... It was all something that was really hard for me, a huge DK fan, to come to grips with. It's not without its qualities, but it's mostly a disappointment.

Pros: The first platform fighter, which is understandably basic, is still a really really fun time! You got the fundamentals here, simple as they may be, in a very satisfying 1-on-1 or four player game! Free-for-all, stock, items, however you want to play, it's a riotous good time that gave me years of entertainment with friends and family. The Nintendo franchises on display are all the top-of-the-line franchises of their day, with the biggest Nintendo stars and mascots of the 90s. Just in time for newcomer Pokémon to make it in, and ride the Pokémania wave, which I'm sure helped sales considerably here. But this is something new, this isn't an arcade fighter, this isn't just a party game, this is a new take on what a fighting game can be. Simple directional button command controls for each move, special moves, basic moves, and jumping, lots of jumping, as you beat the tar out of your opponents. The more damage you take, the higher your percentage, and with higher percentage the further you go flying after a hit. And if you fly off stage, you're gone-zo! That's the game, the idea is to try and get back to a platform to stay alive, thus, platform fighter... and also, platforming, for Nintendo, is so on brand, there was really no better way to make a crossover fighter using Nintendo IP than focusing the gameplay around platforming. It works for the audience that already loves Nintendo games to begin with, genius!

And the game, by Masahiro Sakurai, builds off of his previous work, Kirby Super Star, in game-feel and mechanics. So if that game was your cup of tea, moving to this one felt very natural, and for me, it definitely was! Instantly fell in love with this game, and not just because it starred my favorite characters like Donkey Kong and Kirby!

Cons: Even though its presentation and graphics are simple and charming, they're also, well, not very impressive either. Just getting all of these franchises together was impressive, but on looks alone, it's a bit of a rough patch. And it being the first Smash game, many of the mechanics do feel a bit stiff. No charge attacks, no grabbing items in mid-air or during rolls, it's all rudimentary, not the worst, but things definitely got smoother and prettier with the sequels.

What it means to me: Oh man, this game means a lot to me. Played it with my brothers and friends after school almost every day, we'd get pretty competitive too! Helped that we already knew pretty much every franchise and character included (Ness did take some memory jogging though). And also that we were already huge fans of Kirby Super Star. It was super easy to love this one.

Pros: Mario Kart is back, with 4-player multiplayer being the biggest highlight! Race tracks now in full 3D, with plenty of fun discoveries within them, bringing a lot of life to the experience. The cast of characters are now depicted in 3D CGI, but are displayed as 2D sprites, similar to Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario RPG, and y'know, I kinda like it! They don't look all blocky low poly, and we get to see this wonderful cast expressive and detailed like never before. This is the first time we see several characters from the Mario universe depicted in 3D as well, including none other than Luigi himself! Newcomer Wario also makes his EAD debut here, replacing Koopa Troopa, and has become part of the main Mario cast ever since. But it's Donkey Kong (essentially a grown up DK Jr. from Super Mario Kart) who made the headlines in my books, as this game marked the first time Rare's version of Donkey Kong from DKC, showed up in a Mario game, which had the ripple effect of making this DK part of the greater Mario universe, changing the trajectory of perception for the two series generations afterwards. But back to Mario Kart 64, this game plays fine! It introduced the notorious Blue Shell, which wipes out whoever is in first place. Excellent item, dreaded by all! But what makes Mario Kart 64 shine the brightest is its battle mode, which is free-for-all, no timer, and stock matches. Whichever player gets knocked out first, becomes a bomb on wheels that can kamikaze any remaining players. It's a blast! And it's especially a blast on the battle maps, which are the best in the series, especially Block Fort and Double Deck! Years of fun with friends and family, this game was!

Cons: The play control, while better than SMK, still isn't great. And rubber banding AI in races is still very annoying. Also, the AI for items is bit garbage too, often you'll throw red shells and they'll immediately curve directly into the side of a wall... Kinda jank. Clearly there was room for improvement in this series.

What it means to me: Seeing Rare's Donkey Kong show up in this for the first time blew my mind, I didn't realize it was a thing they could do? Seeing the screenshot of the roster in a Nintendo Power with him on it, I must've done a few double takes. Great call though, made me enjoy this game so much more than I would have otherwise... Then again, poor Kamek didn't show up as a racer in Mario Kart until this very generation on Switch and Mobile. Oh well, Mario Kart 64 is great, not perfect by any means, but great fun!

Pros: Guh-huh! In my googly eyes, this game stands as the greatest 3D platformer adventure game ever made, to this very day! Using Super Mario 64 as a launching pad, the game features fully explorable 3D sandbox worlds, where you collect trinkets to mark your adventuring and accomplishments within. The worlds themselves are expertly crafted and each of them have ten golden Jigsaw puzzle pieces (the main collectible, Jiggies) scattered about, either locked behind challenges, or accessed in the world via new moves you can learn. These worlds are designed in such a way, where there are eye catching landmarks, in the distance and in every corner of these large maps. You never feel lost, and you're always motivated to travel to each area of each world to interact with them. Oozing with atmosphere, humor, with a frenzy of color and great graphics, charming sound design, and the boppiest catchiest melodies you'll ever hear! And, you know what it kind of reminds me of? Disneyland. These worlds feel like little theme parks, designed just for your navigation and curiosity, and give off the desire for you to visit every little attraction contained. It's a wonderful thing, and what helps make this game stand above most other 3D platformer games, is how you can complete each world as you visit them without the need to backtrack, which is such a satisfying sensation, lemma tell ya!

Banjo the bear, Kazooie the (*checks notes) red crested breegull, on their big adventure to rescue Banjo's sister Tooty from the evil Gruntilda the witch, with friends Bottles, the mole that teaches Kazooie new moves like flight and egg bombs and such, as well as Mumbo Jumbo, the shaman that transforms Banjo into different animals and gizmos, such as Termites, Pumpkins, Alligators, and Bees. And I gotta touch upon Gruntilda the Witch herself! She's the big bad, and rules the overworld, Gruntilda's Lair (similar to Peach's castle in Super Mario 64) where you'll navigate her labyrinth, solve puzzles, and discover new worlds, where Grunty watches over your every move and sometimes joins in with ridiculous commentary and hilarious rhyming dialogue! She's a memorable one, that's for sure! Plus there's numerous NPCs that are always askin' for your help across the nine different worlds you explore, and I can't forget the enigmatic Jinjos, grab all five colors hidden in each world to get a prize Jiggy, and by the end of the game, you'll be glad you're good friends with these wacky little dudes! All these wonderfully cheeky characters bring this world to life with their funny mumble-speak chatter boxes and kooky animations. You'll be delighted, from start to finish.

Cons: I've got no complaints, other than the engine room in Rusty Bucket Bay, you'll hear me complaining every time I replay that area, hah!

What it means to me: Back in 1997 when this game was first revealed, I was a bit bummed, I wanted to see Rare reveal a Donkey Kong 64, they kept me waiting!! Who's this hillbilly bear anyhow!?! Heh... well, turns out Banjo-Kazooie was the bee's knees, and much better than the eventual DK64 ended up being. Upon release, there was hype everywhere, Nintendo promoted the game heavily, and I was ecstatic every time my family had a trip to Target, so we could play the demo kiosk of the game. Later we'd rent it, and much later own it, but every step of the way there was a huge amount of love for this game, and to this day, the love has expanded over and over. The day Banjo & Kazooie were revealed for Smash Bros. Ultimate, I embarrassingly scream cried over it, haha. When Nintendo lost this franchise as Rare was purchased by Microsoft, it was hard to handle, this series meant so much to me as a Nintendo fan, and I imagine to Nintendo, as it was a rising star franchise on the N64... For that to just, disappear, really did suck... So that moment when they returned felt like acknowledgment for this era, when the bear and bird stood tall. Hopefully one day we get to see the franchise continue, but for now, we still have the best 3D platformer adventure ever made in Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64.

Pros: Big open sandbox lands to explore and doodle around in with some pretty deep platforming mechanics. What new can be said about this title, it changed the industry, bringing fully controllable 3D cameras to games, and set the standard for 3D platforming. My favorite part of this game though, is Peach's Castle, which is a giant labyrinthian hub world that's an incredible joy to explore and discover its many many secrets. It's, to this day, the best hub world in any Mario game, probably any 3D platformer if I'm being honest... And it's the first!

Cons: It being the first for many things, it can feel a bit clunky to control. Analog movement was a new thing here, and Mario's abilities are a tad touchy at times. This of course is cleaned up in further sequels in the series, and other new 3D platformers that sprung up as result of this game's influence, such as Banjo-Kazooie (which, I'm saying now, is the better game, you know it's true).

What it means to me: I didn't know how to take in Mario 64 when it first came out... Yeah, it was full 3D, but I didn't understand the tech yet at that time, I just saw really chunky blocky polygonal characters and lands, whereas games like Donkey Kong Country looked buttery smooth with advanced lighting (little did I know that was all a lie, err, a trick! Whereas Mario was the real thing)... Not only that, but Mario had a new voice, a squeaky high pitched Italian stereotype voice, and, I'm sorry, I didn't like it one bit. I thought it sounded dumb. Sure, I was just a kid, but this didn't sound cool at all... Anyway, I didn't get this game until years later, where yeah, I enjoyed it, it's a very good game! Swingin Bowser around by his tail to unleash him into a floating explosive mine, man, that was some satisfaction, I tell ya!

Pros: PIGS!!! The first Harvest Moon game to ever have pigs in it! Yeah, that's what I'll start this review off with, hah! Anywhooo, Harvest Moon 3 actually does quite a lot, and pushes the series outside of its comfort zone in numerous ways. Firstly, marriage is finally in the GB series! There is a caveat though, as you can only marry your work partner, which is the other gender option, but... well, it's better than nothing! You can still start a family and all that here. Secondly, there's a massive city you can visit on the mainland, complete with a shopping mall, movie theater, aquarium, farmer's market where you can set up tent, it's rather inventive and fun!

The basics are all here, but with new bells and whistles. Your new ranch is on an island, with a smaller town than usual, no shops even, but enough to get to know the locals. There's still a little mountainous forest you can forage in, and in the winter even snowboard on! (the snowboarding minigame is in quasi-3D, pretty impressive for GBC, I'd say, fun too!) The biggest change involves which gender you play as, as either boy or girl have their own specialties. The boy is skilled in field work, and the girl is skilled in animal rearing. By choosing one gender, the other gender will live on the ranch with you as a co-worker, and tend to their specialty, where they'll get better at the job over time. And you can even give them commands on how, with a minimap and directions and all that. Pretty neat. Some new mechanics that stood out to me were the irrigation systems you can create to plant rice and wheat. Also, if I remember correctly, this is the first Harvest Moon where you can set up a scarecrow on the field to keep pests away from the crops. Good farm stuff! Additionally, chickens, cows, and sheep all return, but a new livestock option is here too, horses! Yeah, horses are now livestock, where they need to be fed daily, and you can keep multiple of in the barn (they even come in a variety of different colors!). Their purpose is to be sold off to the racetrack, where you can then see how they've performed at the Farmer's Union... Interesting! You can still ride them around in your ranch too, of course. The city on the mainland is the star attraction though, where you can buy anything you need at the shopping mall (home goods to customize your living space, seeds, books even!), take in a movie at the theater (Entertaining little stories you can watch with new shows every season!), donate new fish caught to the Aquarium (a nice chill spot to visit and observe the aquatic life in closer detail), the Farmer's Union where you can order new livestock and tools, and the mainland port, the entrance and exit where you can set up your farmer's market tent to sell goods to city dwellers, as well as just take your boat out to sea, and explore with complete freedom, THE SEA! It's where you'll find the best fish to sell, and among other secrets, like the mermaid's cove! The game still has trading as well with other players, seeds, animals, pets, oh yeah... PETS! This game lets you choose three different dog breeds that protect your animals outside, three different colored cats that bring you different seasons seeds on occasion, a bird/falcon that brings in random seeds from any season, and my favorite, the long up and coming animal that I've wanted in the series since game one, the pig. The pig, who simply brings you money every now and then, haha! It's so cute having a pet little pig!

Cons: Well... this one is awkward. The game hasn't aged well in one particular instance. The gender stuff... You see, when you get married in this game, if you're playing as the boy, you can raise a family, have kids, and keep growing the farm. But.... if you're playing as the girl, when you get married the game simply... ends. That's it. Game over. And that's pretty lame. Every other girl version of Harvest Moon let you get married and have kids no problem, why not this one? Ehh... it's unfortunate.

What it means to me: This game released at the tail end of the GBC's life, the GBA was already out and was even featured as compatible with on the back of the box. But I didn't care, I needed to complete this trilogy! And I'm glad I did! When first checking the game's booklet I was introduced to official game art of the pig, and I just about lost my mind!! Haha! And the game ended up being the deepest HM experience on a handheld yet, absolutely loved delving into this one, and replaying it with the opposite gender for all of the different gameplay scenarios possible.

Pros: Once again, five classic and modern Game & Watch titles, but this time several more unlockable, however, the unlockable games are only Classic versions. But it still added tons more replay value, and incentive to complete each game included, just to unlock more games! The highlights this time for me were Donkey Kong Jr., Egg, and Greenhouse. Egg perhaps my favorite, as its design uses the risk/reward system really well (like how Octopus and Helmet did in previous G&WG titles), you play as Yoshi, and you eat cookies that are rolling down oven paths from four different directions. The further down the path, the more baked the cookie will be, but at the end of the path, if you don't catch it, the cookie will crumble and you lose a life. If you're able to nab the cookie at the last second, you'll get multiplied points, which is the real risk/reward element of the game. And if it's a Yoshi cookie, the chance to hatch a Yoshi egg, sending out a baby Yoshi to walk down a path and eat cookies for you, acting as a shield. It's pretty involved for such a simple game, but so satisfying! Perhaps my favorite G&W game in the Gallery series thanks to this clever design! Also, Donkey Kong Jr. here plays so well, and is so charming, it's a far better experience than Donkey Kong 1 in G&WG2... But in this game you can also unlock Donkey Kong II, the only "Donkey Kong 2" in existence, haha! I love it, and several of the unlockable classics, in this, despite being Classic mode only, are a great time.

Cons: Having said that, the unlockables only having Classic mode is a slight bummer.

What it means to me: I just really like Donkey Kong II, heh, and this one finally gave me the ability to play it. But yeah, this game is good, I recall getting it used from a school friend, it was the only G&WG game I didn't get at launch, new. Not that it mattered, grateful I got my hands on it any way I could, it's a fun time.