Having the dubious honor of following Kirby Super Star, Kirby's Dream Land 3 makes up for a return to basics in gameplay with charm and personality to spare. Just look at all of Kirby's wonderful friends! I'm sad we didn't see more of these lovely pals in the games that followed.

Pro tip: Super Famicom carts are much more affordable and readily available than SNES carts.

2014

Weird to describe a game that I never want to touch again on account of it tormenting me in my sleep for weeks as a "masterpiece"

Y'all remember those blissful first few months after this game released that felt like maybe world peace was attainable after all? Yeah...

I really wanted to like this game, if only for the novelty of playing a brand new Game Boy game in 2021. Unfortunately though, the game's script is littered with typos, grammatical errors, and run-on sentences, which is a death sentence for a text-heavy RPG. Similarly, the combat system is either too obtuse for me to grasp (which is entirely possible) or just a straight up DPS race in all cases, which makes the opening few hours of this game just a slog.

I couldn't get into it. The sprite art and music were awesome though, as is the nifty physical packaging.

The gameplay is literally unbeatable, it's never felt so good to sneak around bases and take out enemies. It's a shame that the rest of the game is clearly unfinished. Still, that gameplay is so strong that this remains one of my favorite MGS games. The wizardry on display with the FOX engine's scaling resource usage is unparalleled, too.

Obligatory "fuck konami".

Only one more level in Silver's story... and yet I can't bring myself to do it... this game is pure, abject suffering.

A rare experiment using the Mario brand, this Super Mario 3D World remix iterates on the trend started by Odyssey by offering one contiguous level with little pockets of platforming goodness throughout. Bowser's terrifying, and the cats are cute! Pure fun.

An underrated series, Metroid always brings unmatched exploration through beautiful alien environments. Prime 2 reinforces that environmental storytelling is the best narrative form for gaming, and its groovy OST is some incredible focus music.

Insomniac Games is one of the best dev studios in the business, and their first Spider-Man game remains the best piece of Spider-Man media out there (sorry Spiderverse). Their take on Miles is my favorite yet and a must-play for webheads.

The "what the fuck" heard around the world at the PS5 announcement showcase, Bugsnax is as beautiful as it is totally bizarre. Equal parts Pokemon Snap, Ape Escape, and Muppet fever dream, this ain't one to miss. Just look at that strawberry with the googley eyes!