Fixed a lot of my problem with Pikmin 1's Pikmin AI but this sequel just takes 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

I think the no day limit compared to 1 leads it to be a much slower paced and focus on collecting treasure instead of collecting ship parts leads it to a 100% is no longer necessary and the player can complete as much as the game as they want. (I know it wasn't technically necessary in 1 but it was, despite how they framed it). And as stated early the Pikmin AI is much more intelligent than 1 is, to the point where I question why that same pathfinding wasn't implemented into the Switch port of 1. They'll drown less and are much easier to calm down when they do drown.

The dungeons I'm pretty mixed on. On one hand, I like the risk-reward aspect of it. You have a limited amount of Pikmin, but the dungeons are basically the only way to find high value treasure quickly and you can get unique Pikmin from them. On the other some of the most unfair challenges come from these. Mostly bombs random dropping right out of the sky. The dungeons are also randomly generated. Its not too bad as each floor of a dungeon tends to have a pattern to it but it can just lead to a situation where you just want to redo the RNG. One time I got a bomb dropping bug on the other side of a wall my Pikmin needed to break and the bombs hit box just went through the wall. That was annoying.

I think the game was almost a good step in the right direction that kind fell ever so slightly short, in RNG that was ever so slightly more annoying than Pikmins 1 Pikmin AI. That being said its still was overall enjoyable.

I reviewed this game about a month ago, but after Wonder was announced I decided to play/replay all of the Mario platformers. And this ones much more interesting after you've played the previous games particularly the first Land and World. Land because this is a sequel and World because is the game that released right before it. The Mario Sprites look very similar, the spin jump is here, and it also kinda has an interconnected world map. I think in comparison the World the levels are a lot more visually interesting but don't offer too much mechanically. And doesn't too much with its world map either. Its essentially a hub world where Mario goes to the 6 themed worlds to get the coins.

And compared to Land 1, while this might be a better game, there are some downgrades. Most notably I thought the soundtrack was worse but more notably Mario feels very slow. In Land 1 he could feel a little fast especially while falling but this feels like an over correction. Controlling him is much less smooth than it is on any console game that released at this point.

Still I'm going to give this game points for having extremely unique setting and different enemies in those settings(ideas that haven't really been seen in a 2D Mario since), its non-linear approach to unlocking the final level, and introducing Wario to the Mario franchise. It's not bad at all and it took me less than an hour to beat it. Try it out if you have NSO.

I think on the World vs 3 debate, Im probably team 3. A lot of these level can feel somewhat empty and less explorable in comparison to the levels in 3.

But this game is still a massive accomplishment. I greatly enjoy how cartoony and maybe a little weird this game gets in comparison to 3. I remember one level where you would ride on dolphins the entire time. I think the cape power is a better flying ability and more fun to use than raccoon. And basically every level has a secret exit that you can use to get a short cut on an interconnected world map, which is a lot better in this game. For starters you can go backwards and replay levels but the secret exits can also lead to star roads where you can find unique colored Yoshi's which is very cool. The switch palaces are also great rewards to find as they fill in the colored blocks of a level and make them a lot easier. A lot of good levels are in here and each one has its own unique game play gimmick like moving vertically through a cave or charging (digging?) Chucks throwing boulders at you. The game also just lets the player have some fun sometimes. There's constant shells lined up in front of a group of enemies, the cape flying power up is very fun to use and they typically put something up there. In on instances the game gives you and invincibility star and puts you in a large vertical fall. I love a good challenge but that was very refreshing.

I'm very shocked at how well early 2D Mario games have held up, mostly 3 and this one and the Land series to a lesser extent. Wonder certainly has quite a bit to live up to.

It's hard for me to believe this is an NES game. When it first came to 3DS virtual console I bought it and didn't think too much of it at the time. But I was fool. The level design is immaculate and there are so many neat things and shortcuts in almost every single one. Basically every single level has its own theme and idea that goes hand and hand with the world theme. Like Pipe Land having a level where you assend through a pipe structure or giant land having giant versions of more generic theme. The world map is also cool and goes hand in hand with the item reserve system where you can hold hammers to break rocks and make your own shortcuts, music boxes to put enemies to sleep and just warp whistle to other worlds. The controls feel lovely as well, flying with the raccoon suit is a joy and I love sliding down a slope and jumping with increased momentum. This is probably my favorite NES game. The best games are where everything fits together like a puzzle and this game does that well.

Its far more visually and in some ways mechanically more interesting than its predecesor. I enjoyed my time all the way through with this, but some small part of me thinks without the Mario rebranding, this game would be forgotten as a kinda fun but ultimately bland platformer by today's standards.

Although it is interesting watching Doki Doki Panic gameplay and seeing how many of its characters an elements the Mario brand has inherited and continues to use. Bob-ombs, Shy Guys, Birdo, Pokeys are all staples of the franchise. Even Snifits and Ninjis make infrequent appearances. And the same cast are reused in 3D World with the same abilities. I just think its crazy how many elements of the series came from a resprite where they really only replaced the main character,

My first time playing this game. I've played and completed Pikmin 3 Deluxe before this.

I can see why many people consider this their favorite Pikmin game. The 30 day time limit and more free form nature of game and how its areas are structured certainly offer a ton of strategy to this game. The simple Pikmin types and short playtime add to this game as well, and its begging to be replayed especially as your score is shown to at the end of the game.

The main sour spots, for me, are the lack of lock on, which would have been nice, given this version of the game was released after 3 and 3 Deluxe, and the Pikmin's frustrating Path-finding. The little shits were constantly falling off cliffs and into water which I didn't remember from 3. It was also much harder to help them recover from drowning. Those are my main to sticking points and I kinda wish more were done to these ports. But getting Nintendo to rerelease any GameCube game is a miracle, so I'm glad this year has had Metroid Prime and Pikmin in it all. For 30 I highly recommend it, although you may as well just buy the bundle.

I honest don't agree with how people describe this game. Aside from a more difficult and sometimes rather unfair level design this game doesn't strike me as that much worse than the first one. Like, its worse but not a complete affront to everything that game stood for. Yea there's a lot of cheap elements and yea it used all of its assets, but I really wouldn't say this game is devoid of anything good. Now granted I only played around 10 levels of this ( which is about the same amount as the first game requires you to beat it)quiting when the 3rd castle told me to fuck myself (which the first game also did) and used NSO's rewind functionality. Perhaps if I didn't use those I would have a more painful experience. But why would I want that? And with that, now I have something to say when someone asks me for my Nintendo related hot takes.

I've been very mixed on generally cinematic games where the games entire purpose is to just be a playable movie. Sony publishes these games quite a bit but I will say it works quite a bit better when its stars one of cinema's greatest icons. The narrative is the strongest part of the game and coupled with gorgeous visuals and spectacular voice acting I'm willing to forgive the bare bones open world game design of "large map, put things on it for player to find."

I was able to beat normal mode in a few day and barely upgrade anything for the tokens the game gives you. While swinging around a large New York is fun, I recommend looking at Spider Man 2 from 2004 (A tie in game to the Sam Raimi movie with basically the same narrative). The gameplay is shocking similar.

I'm very happy Nintendo has put this out officially. As a big emulation buff, getting their quirkier titles to run on a PC or Portable Emulation machine was always more trouble than its worth so I'm glad I have a way to play this game, for the most part, as it was intended and I hope this continues with Yoshi Topsy Turvy and especially WarioWare Twisted.

The game itself benefits greatly from coming with something I pay for anyway, because I wouldn't have bought this by itself. Its more a novelty albeit one I had a decent amount of fun with for the brief time I played it. The idea well runs pretty dry in the second half as a lot of the levels feel similar, and 5 of the 8 bosses are the same thing on different arenas.

One thing this game has in spades is its massive amount of style.From the gorgeous cell shading, the unique character and environment designs, and the stylish animations. The platforming, while not as complex as others, does its job in making the player feel like a master thief infiltrating an impenetrable fortress. In that way alone its truly is a cut above many of it's 3D platformer competitors.

To praise one more of its ideas, option collectables leading to new abilities is a cool one, but maybe perhaps this wasn't the right game for it.

The platforming is very simple, and the levels never really challenged me at any point, although i never attempted any of the timed challenges. The combats simple as well, most encounters I solved just by spamming the hook. The game also breaks up the mildly enjoyable platforming with less enjoyable mini games, which the entire final world is mostly composed of. Had I written this before I played it, I might've given it another half star.

Musics also mid. For a game as stylish as this one that's extra disappointing.

My first pre-Awakening Fire Emblem game. I played on normal mode and a lot of it was fairly enjoyable. Maybe the games a bit too easy but I much rather breeze through the game than repeatedly smash my skull into some weird roadblock the game puts in front of us. Of course I also played this through Retroarch and used the rewind feature quite a bit but I used it less and less as the game continued. I also barely had to use skirmish or the Tower to get my units to level up

There were also things that i felt were done better in later entries, like supports, shops and money in general. But thats not too much a knock against this game. I still think its pretty good for its time, and worth checking out, especially if you liked newer entries.