I adore the HDreamcast look of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and a lot of its soundtrack is banging. Movement is fluid, fun, and undeniably cool. Level design could be tighter, too many areas are huge open plazas, but solving traversal puzzles to make beautiful tags by real-life artists is deeply satisfying.

Unfortunately, BRC crashes. A lot. Despite my purchasing an up-to-date version in Dec. 2023 and playing on a newer Switch OLED, it crashed every time I finished a chapter. It crashed mid-chapter several times and after I reloaded from crashes a few times. Load times are noticeable, so this issue stung even worse. l've shrugged off the rare crash in other Switch games, but it was next level bad here.

Still distinct in the strategy RPG space and interesting. It can be thrilling to direct 100v100 sprite army battles, issue commands, and chip away at opposing commander health. The story is generally good, though some threads and characters are underdeveloped.

Some aspects of the gameplay haven't aged well: general movement on the map is sloooooow, key actions during the domestic segments (fortifying / searching castles, captive / general interactions, etc.) are repetitive and cumbersome, and just choosing the right troop type can make many battles easy. The late game can also leave you hanging with no indication of what to do next for weeks at a time.

This game is rewarding if you make time to learn its ropes and rhythm. Once I got a feel for how Dragon Force plays, I couldn't put it down!

Pikmin 1 plays well and the HD upgrade looks crisp and colorful enough. This version also has a few control improvements over the original. Unfortunately, the first half of the game is pretty basic and it all ends just when the puzzles and combat are getting good.

If you’re a series fan who started with the later games or if you haven’t played Pikmin 1 in a while, it’s still fun and worth experiencing. If you’re getting into Pikmin for the first time, however, I recommend starting with Pikmin 3. It develops and expands upon the great mechanics of Pikmin 1 in many ways, is engaging the whole time, and lasts much longer.

A fun, funny 15+ hour trip to the Beanbean Kingdom. The writing holds up and the 3DS visuals have a nice Saturday morning cartoon look. Some aspects haven't aged as well: I thought the dungeon design was more longwinded than clever and some bosses felt like frustrating minigames instead of skill testing epic battles. The timed button Bros Attacks, while engaging early on, also make M&L drag due to their length and necessity in most late game combat. This game gave me a new appreciation for the brevity of most timed button combos in the Paper Mario series.

I've played the GBA version and prefer the 3DS remake due to some new quality of life features (save anywhere, easier access to essential moves during exploration, etc.). The original is still a great way to experience this game, however, and it is accessible through NSO.

The art direction, graphics, and music beautifully merge the styles of Ace Attorney and Layton while also nailing a medieval fantasy setting. Its courtroom sequences are thrilling and the Layton exploration segments are a nice break with generally decent puzzles.

Unfortunately, the story collapses on its own twists in the final case and becomes dependent on long exposition dumps to wrap up. I had a lot of fun, but didn’t walk away with that great “Aha!” feeling that the best Ace Attorney games deliver so well.