When it comes to Metroidvanias, it doesn't get much better than animal well.

Unique atmosphere, fun puzzles, and a great sense of exploration is all throughout this game.

One thing I would have liked to see is some accessibility options for collectors in the endgame. Something that can tell you if there's eggs in a general area on the map would have been very nice, as it could very well remove the burden of looking around to no avail (since the map is fairly big).

With that being said though, this is a must-play and one of the biggest highlights of 2024.

arguably the best way to experience Kanto (basically competing with fire red). There's already so much bloat in the the Gen 1 games, and the GO style of catching simply speeds up the more tedious parts of a pokemon game that you're most likely done a million times over. Not to mention this is probably THE easiest way to complete a pokedex in a modern pokemon game. Great graphics that fit the pokemon world, albeit a bit basic (though that's better than a lot of what gamefreak puts out). I would recommend trying it out if you were hesitant the first time around.

As much as I loved experiencing this game for the first time, I couldn't help from having the playthrough be held back by the classic jank that plague a lot of platformers around this time. Some worlds are wildly better than others, and with that comes a lot of annoying things (mainly the theater level).

With all of that aside though, there's still a good game underneath some of the janky and dated stuff. The story is unique, characters are funny, and it's got a creative art style that really draws you in. I can't wait to dive into the sequel assuming that they fixed most of the problems I had with this one.

As someone who constantly praises Galaxy 2 of being the superior game, I feel it damaged my perspective on the original for so long. I decided to take it for another spin, as it's the 3D Mario game I replay the least.

This game has a magical aura to it, something that the second game somewhat misses the mark on. Stories told through the music and restoration of the Comet Observatory really glues together the fractured galaxies together. I want to say this is the first game marking Nintendo's shift from a gracefully painting focused gameplay in curated worlds to going batshit crazy with bursts of different ideas, having galaxies made around them. This "Jackson Pollock"-esque approach to Mario games can be seen in Galaxy 2, and Odyssey.

This game is a triumph for Nintendo and the gaming industry as a whole.

(also the sound design behind starbits is GOATED)