Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul

The early 2000's was no stranger to trends that would be known to spellbind the hearts and hands of young gamers. The new millennium introduced us nerds to popular and memorable franchises such as Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft, and Call of Duty, but among the games competing to shine the brightest was a more traditional game, a trading-card game, that ruled supreme for half a decade; that card game was Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul - GBA

The popular Japanese manga-turned-game-turned-international sensation saw many different video game interpretations, some re-imagining Yu-Gi-Oh! as a turn-based RPG, to an open-world Pokemon-ish game, while other publications stuck to the rules and characters that made the franchise popular in the first place, and few accomplished the later more successfully than Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul. 

Unlike many other entries to its video game career, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul sticks to the original rules of the traditional card-based game; it's these same rules with which EDS expects players to be preemptively familiar in order to play, as there exist no tutorials in EDS, making it somewhat impenetrable to gamers unfamiliar with Yu-Gi-Oh! That being said, the game initially offers opponents that are fairly easy to defeat, and as a result it may not be too difficult for determined newbies to quickly get the hang of what winds up becoming a fairly challenging game. The experience of Yu-Gi-Oh! video games will always inevitably be different for those who are long-time fans and those who have never played before, but since EDS doesn't allow you to make moves or play cards that don't abide by the rules of the game, it doesn't really take too long for novices to become familiar with what does and doesn't work.

Players begin the only single-player game mode by selecting from 1 of 3 decks to get you started. There is no way of knowing which decks contain which cards, but all 3 are sufficient for getting you through your first few duels once you become familiar with the rules of the game. Initially, you have the option of dueling against 5 faces familiar to even the most casual Yu-Gi-Oh! fan, and additional opponents are unlocked after having defeated each character in each tier a specific number of times. Each collection of characters unlocked serves not only as fun guides through the first 2 seasons of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, but becomes increasingly difficult and fun to duel against. After you win any duel against any opponent, you are brought to a screen where you get to choose 1 booster-pack to open. Each booster pack holds cards that are unlocked and available to you after selecting to claim them, though once again the contents of each pack is random until it is opened. Constant acquisition of additional cards that you are encouraged to add to your deck helps to keep things from becoming stale. Abstaining from making changes to your deck may result in frequent loses as the skill of your newest opponents becomes more considerable, so having a consistent influx of new cards is an efficient way to make progress and pacing fluid. 

The goal of the game is to advance to and then win the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship. Each duel either won or lost advances the calendar by a single day, and there are a great number of days to get through before the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship arrives. Players will spend most of these calendar days dueling against new opponents to unlock more cards and characters. Unfortunately, there is an extremely large number of days between unlocking the final opponent and unlocking the World Championship, and the game slows to a grinding hault during this second half, which abruptly withholds new content. 

Though there are now countless Yu-Gi-Oh! video games out there, I find myself drawn to replay Eternal Duelist Soul every couple of years. The best part about Eternal Duelist Soul is that despite it featuring out-dated cards and strategies, the cards it does feature are the original cards, and your opponents are the original characters from the original cast. Eternal Duelist Soul is to Yu-Gi-Oh! as Red and Blue are to Pokemon. The value in EDS lays in its ability to encourage casual fans to sharpen their knowledge of the basics of the real-life game. Attempting to dive head-first into the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! nowadays can be a tall order, and introducing a new duelist to the latest strategies and combinations can be daunting, but playing these old video games that are more-or-less Yu-Gi-Oh! simulators can be extremely helpful for one trying to begin to play the real-life game. Moreover, EDS and other old Yu-Gi-Oh! games are fun for veteran fans who may have missed out on the opportunity to use old cards and strategies that may have seemed fun at the time but are now out-dated. My Exodia deck is unmatched in this period of Yu-Gi-Oh's history. 

Retrospectively, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist Soul doesn't offer anything that can't be found in any other Yu-Gi-Oh! game. There are fewer cards, fewer opponents, and fewer strategies to be seen in this classic title, but Eternal Duelist Soul may be valuable to players who wish to get a grasp of what Yu-Gi-Oh! is without throwing themselves into the deep end of a pool filled with unfamiliar monsters and demons (literally). EDS is also still fun for old-time Yu-Gi-Oh! fans who yearn for simpler times of a simpler game. With the exception of some outdated banned-lists and rulings, EDS offers a genuine Yu-Gi-Oh! experience all wrapped up into a handheld video game with an impressive amount of content and replay value limited only by your ability to conceive of new and fun decks and strategies. 

Nintendo Direct 11/12/15

Earlier this evening, Nintendo streamed the first Nintendo Direct presentation we have seen since the passing of former Nintendo of Japan President Satoru Iwata. The following is everything discussed during said presentation in order, along with some brief thoughts:

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD Remake coming to WiiU -

Twilight Princess is my favorite LoZ game, so I am excited to know that many gamers will be picking it up to play again. That being said, the footage of the game showed during the Nintendo Direct looked underwhelming. I had a very hard time identifying the differences between the original version and the HD footage, not to mention the fact that those near 10 year old models haven't aged as well as they did in Wind Waker. It'll be fine, since it's Zelda, but we'll have to see about this one. 

Zelda WiiU- 

Literally all they said was that it was still happening.

New Pokemon Mystery Dungeon for the 3DS- 

Take it or leave it. I left it. 

New Splatoon stages/weapons/gear/etc.- 

Indifferent. The game is amazing with or without new additions, so either way is fine by me.

Super Mario Maker App-

Apparently, a new PC and mobile devices app is going to be released in order to introduce a more efficient way of searching for user-made stages worth playing in Super Mario Maker. lol

Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival-

Take it or leave it. I bloody left it. They also mentioned a couple of Animal Crossing Amiibo, but I feel like that craze has passed.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash-

Release date- Nov 20. Demonstrated a few of the new moves in the game. If you're into it, you should be pleased; if not, skip.

Xenoblade Chronicles X- 

Xenoblade Chronicles X

Release date: Dec 3. Kind of just reminded us that it was coming out...again. It looks really good, but nothing new to report.

Nintendo Badges- 

God, I can't even remember. I think it is a free-to-start 3DS game that contributes to an ability to unlock new themes for the 3DS Home Screen. 

Pokemon Picross- 

Another Pokemon-themed puzzle game for the 3DS. Pokemon shuffle is really good, but I don't need another Pokepuzzle game, personally.

Steamworld Heist-

A tactical 2D strategy game. It kind of looks like a 2D Codename S.T.E.A.M. It looks pretty good to me. I'll keep my eye on it.

Fast Racing Neo-

Didn't look as good as what I would want a new F-Zero game to be, but I'll keep my eye on it.

Typoman-

Apparently, the WiiU gamepad makes Typoman
 noteworthy and intuitive

Puzzle platformer that uses the manipulation of letters in words to affect what that word does in the game. It looks artsy and unique; I'll be sure to keep my eye on this as well, especially since I can sense that it will be inexpensive upon release.

Pokken Tournament- 

Nothing really new to report, but it looks really fun. I'll probably get it soon after it launches.

Star Fox Zero-

Release date- Apr 22. Doesn't look any better or worse than it has been looking in past trailers. I'm curious about how this game will do.

Mario and Luigi / Paper Mario crossover game- 

Looks to be a combination of Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games. It's not hard to imagine since the games feature almost identical gameplay.

Final Fantasy Explorers- 

Release date- Jan 26. Looks alright. First FF game on the 3DS. Should be worth keeping an eye on.

FE Fates Bundle includes all 3 games, 3DS
 drawstring pouch, and an artbook for $80

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/ Conquest/ Revelation-  

Release date: Feb 19th. Looks really good. Dunno how I feel about the story being spread across multiple games, but an $80 bundle for all 3 titles is being released, and tbh, that's not the worst deal.

Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow on 3DS eshop- 

Release date- Feb 27th. Can't find anything to complain about here, unless you already own the games. At least having them on the 3DS will relieve you of the stress of having that old internal battery wear out on you. I'm curious to see how much they will cost.

Hyrule Warrior Legends-

Release date- March 25. Take it or leave it. Didn't look too bad to me, but redundant if you've played the Wii U version

Dragon Question VII- 

If you're into DQ, I don't see why you wouldn't be happy.

Cloud Strife in Super Smash Bros.- 

I'm stoked. No release date, but an awesome choice. 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/11/12/final-fantasy-7s-cloud-coming-to-super-smash-bros-wii-u-3ds Check it out here. 

All in all, there should be something here for everyone. I'm excited, but more importantly, I'm pleased. 

Custom Robo

It's been a long time since I last reviewed a hidden gem on the Gamecube. To be honest, it has been a long time since I last started a new Gamecube game. A friend is letting me hold onto a few of his games for a while though, so I figured a few weeks ago was a perfect time to dust off the ol' cube and get back to what brought me here in the first place.

Custom Robo - Nintendo Gamecube

      It's not too often that we see an IP with five entrees slip under the radar to the extent that Custom Robo has. Spanning all the way back to 1999 on the Nintendo 64, the Custom Robo series was initially one that was kept exclusive to Japan, with its first three entrees, Custom Robo, Custom Robo v2, and Custom Robo GX never to see an international release. Eventually, North America got its first taste of the Custom Robo series in the year 2004 on the Nintendo Gamecube. For a retro game, Custom Robo has a pretty considerable price tag, sitting at around $25 on eBay at time of writing, but is Custom Robo still worth a 3-Way or Vertical shot, or has it rusted over time?

   At its forefront, Custom Robo is an action RPG. Most of the gameplay takes place in 3D battle arenas where either two or four Custom Robos will fight in order to reduce their opponent's health from 1000 to 0. The way to gain the advantage over your opponent is by taking the Robo that you are given in the beginning of the plot and upgrading it using parts you are awarded by completing certain tasks as you progress through the initial 10 hour campaign. Things start off pretty simple while you have few parts to select or swap-out, but quickly become much more interesting as you are awarded many different parts frequently. Each Custom Robo is made up of a combination of 5 parts: gun, bomb, pod, legs, and model. Most of the parts are so vastly different from each other that even the most subtle changes to your build can produce drastically different results in the battle arena. I experimented with a few different builds to find one that fit my playing style, and in the process played briefly with a Custom Robo that did heavy damage and jumped really high but lacked mobility and was armed with a 3-Way shooting gun and heat seeking missiles, and another Robo that was extremely agile and powerful while in the air but lacked fire power on the ground, equipped with triple-pods designed to meander around the battle field, before I finally built the perfect Robo for me: a Robo with the ability to warp while in the air, armed with a gun that shoots both forward and up, pods that could be fired three at a time, and bombs that cleared walls.

   

  Being able to quickly master the layout of each arena is another noteworthy albeit much less important skill to have when fighting. According to the lore, each battle arena is generated by natural abilities had by each Custom Robo master, and whenever you fight a new opponent, you play in their arena. Each arena stays roughly the same size, and the differences between each one can be a bit underwhelming, but the diversity in color scheme and music, as well as noticing how the layout of each arena reflects the personality of the character generating it makes what could have been an afterthought on behalf of the developers one of the most charming aspects of the game.

    The story is much less intricate than the building and fighting of Custom Robos, though it is not without its plot-twists, fun characters, and genuinely humorous dialogue. After selecting the name of your character, you wake up in your home and are immediately encouraged by your land-lady to pursue a job as a mercenary working for an organization called the Steel Hearts. You get the job after proving your natural talents with a Custom Robo by fighting off enemies from a rival gang called Z Syndicate who failed in an attempt to rob a nearby laboratory of a rare Custom Robo model. Without wishing to give anything more than the first 5 minutes of the game away, you eventually learn what/who it was that the Z Syndicate is after, as well as who runs the Z Syndicate. Overall, the story, while cute and necessary in order for some of the hilarious dialogue to hold meaning, does little more than serve the gameplay.

 
  After all of that, there is a second story mode that is unlocked after completing the first. The second story mode throws you and your fellow Steel Heart members into a tournament meant to have the citizens of the town regain the trust of the police after it was lost as a result of the events in story number 1. While I found the entirety of the first story to be extremely easy albeit fun, the second story provides a much greater challenge. As opposed to the fights in the first story won by selecting the same build and using the same strategies every round, I found myself having to use different parts and tactics in order to account for the game's increased difficulty level. In story number 1, I felt discouraged from using different parts after I found a build that worked perfectly for me, but the increased difficulty provided by the second story was exactly what I needed in order to explore the game's depths to further extent, and I wasn't disappointed.

     At the end of it all, the gameplay is divided into two parts: 1 where you walk your character to which ever location on the map triggers the next plot point, and 1 where you actually fight. Throughout all of Custom Robo, there are no puzzles, no exploring, and no level-up system besides the acquisition of new parts. While the fighting is addicting, I did become concerned that the lack of variety in gameplay would result in the game feeling samey. However, since the game is so short, with my completing of the first story taking a shade under 10 hours, it ends before you get tired, and while I will always appreciate a game for not over-staying it's welcome, it would have been nice to see more variety.

    Custom Robo is uncompromising in its gameplay; it is an action RPG about building robots and using them to fight other robots. Its arcade-like and campy tone is refreshing and has aged well. Despite some gameplay repetition and a generally weak story, Custom Robo offers an impressive level of depth when it comes to selecting your build, and features an addicting battle system that will be sure to keep you coming back even after your last opponent has fallen.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS

I've been writing on this blog for over a year now and I'm sure that all 6 people who actually read it have been beginning to wonder when I was going to get around to reviewing a game about which people actually care. Well, today is that day, because this is my review of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS.

I have to admit, I am a veteran in the world of Super Smash Bros. I understand the game, and I understand that those who don't play competitively see the game differently than those who do. I am on the edge of both worlds, so I will try to see this game with no preference to either perspective. Instead, I will take you through a journey of what my Smash Bros. 3DS experience has been like for the last week.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is the first entry in the legendary Smash Bros. series to appear on a handheld, and if you ask me, it's a pretty fucking good idea partially because no one owns a Wii U right now, but mostly because Nintendo has spent the last year upgrading the 3DS via all sorts of hardware and software improvements from system updates to the release of new limited edition consoles BUT has completely forgotten to release any fucking games for the damn thing. I was looking forward to Smash Bros. on a handheld because of the convenience of being able to play anywhere I go. My parents still live in the same hometown I graduated High School in, but now I am in college and most of my friends live in different states than I do, so being able to not only bring the game back and forth from home to school but being able to bring the multiplayer experience anywhere I go was something I originally found to be extremely appealing, but not so much anymore because the online is complete and utter shit. Many, nay, all people who owned Super Smash Bros. Brawl agreed on two things: Final smashes were horse shit, and the online was embarrassing and irresponsible. 6 years later, we are still faced with the later issue. Out of my 20 attempts made JUST NOW to play a 1 on 1 online match against a random opponent also using the online features, want to guess how many of them were successful? 0. 0 times. I was kicked to the start screen before the match had even begun, with the furthest I ever got being gaining access to a training area which I can only guess comes right before a match- I wouldn't know, because I never got to play one.

My next thought was then "okay whatever". I'll just play some single player. The main excitement that comes with any new entry in the Smash Bros. series is the thrill of both unlocking and using new characters or old characters with new abilities, and in this department, Smash Bros. 3DS really excels. Out of the 49 characters, not even the 2 or 3 sets of clones feel exactly identical, with the exception of Pit and Dark Pit, which I let slide because I loved Kid Icarus: Uprising. However, with the multiplayer options being limited to local multiplayer, an issue I plan on discussing in just a hot second, the player is forced to experience the thrill of new characters by playing single player modes in the game. Classic mode is the main single player mode mostly because it is the only single player mode that can be used to unlock characters. Once you play classic mode with the appropriate characters, you'll unlock every hidden character, of which there are only like, 10, and once you have unlocked every hidden character, you'll want to try them out in more single player modes, once again because multiplayer is hardly an option. Classic mode, however, is not the most suitable testing grounds because, in it, you can't turn the items off, this only being a problem because of the fact that almost every single item in the game just kills you. Blue Shell, The Beetle from Skyward Sword, every Assist Trophy, the Smash Ball, almost every Pokemon, every Bomb-omb, Gooey Bomb, Exploding X bomb thing, every capsule which is ALWAYS a bomb in disguise, and a properly placed bumper all really don't do anything more than just kill you, which believe it or not, reduces the fun of actually becoming good with a character by about 1 fuckton.

So what else is there? There is no online, and classic mode isn't any fun, so what I decided to do was try out a bunch of characters by playing against level 9 CPUs in Smash mode with, of course, the items turned the fuck off. Playing against random CPUs with 3 stock as I attempt to beat the shit out of them with my favorite Nintendo characters of new and old is actually the most fun I get out of the game, but like everything else in it, I am beginning to see how short-lived this is going to be as something about the CPU's tendency to spam both counter-attacks and shield has me convinced that the AI isn't actually very good in the game. In fact, there have been an unacceptable amount of times where I decided that instead of fighting in the fighting game, I thought that it would be more fun to wait in a corner and see how long it would take the CPU to notice that I am preparing to kill it. In the end, the CPU struggled desperately to convince me that my hacking away at it with a sword was something it preferred for me not to do. Instead, the characters against whom I played seemed much more concerned about their health as mostly all they ever did was run around or jump a bit, as opposed to hitting me back, even on the highest difficulty setting.

And so finally, we reach the last selling point of this game, the local multiplayer. Traditionally, local Smash Bros. took place on the living room sofa with 13 of your closest friends and 1 kind of smelly friend who heard you got the newest flavor of Mountain Dew and invited himself over. You'd all gather around the TV for better or for worse and enjoyed the $50 dollar investment made by one friend as you played his game with his controllers on his console in his house. Now, in order for even the most casual collection of players to indulge in the joy of local Smash multiplayer on the 3DS, each participant must own not only the $40 game, but the $200 system. Now I admit, this shouldn't be a problem for children who plan on spending study hall trying to escape from a hard day at middle school with a round or two of Smash Bros, but I am in college, a place where people come to study and learn, not fuck around with video games all day like how I do. I do have a few friends on campus who own the game, but because those who don't play Smash Bros. understand that we no longer need a TV to play, we are often kicked out of common rooms and forced to squeeze 4 dudes into my small bedroom, which I dislike not because of the small size of my room, but because the small size of my bed ill-suited to seat 4 grown men in a fashion that can be described in a manner other than "really gay".

Despite all of my bitching, Smash Bros for 3DS is an excellent entry to the series. In fact, I'd say it's second best with Melee being the first best and Brawl being the worst. There are advantages to having it on a handheld, but I don't really think anyone would argue the fact that the game is supposed to be played on a console with 6 bowls of chips, 14 friends, and 2 girl friends who would prefer to be doing anything besides play video games all night. As an entry in the Smash series, Smash Bros. 3DS is impressive to say the least, but as a game, it just can't be considered as good as people want it to be. The online doesn't work, the single player options are limited unless you are a masochist or a completionist as the collectibles are nearly endless, and the salvageable modes in the game are only fun for a short while due to mediocre AI. If you have the game, I am SO excited to play with you next time we are all home and have the game on us, but if you were one of the more skeptical players who decided to wait and see if this game was going to be executed properly on the 3DS, I declare that you don't have to get it if you don't want to. It's not a "must-play" for the console.

**EDIT** I have friends at home and in other parts of the state who have assured me that my poor experience with the online in this game may be the fault of my school having bad internet service, and not because Nintendo likes online multiplayer as much as I like eating glass. Fine. They are probably right, although I have heard about other players and professional gaming companies complaining about having as much trouble as I had. If your online mode works, ignore what I had to say about my experience, and go play it because it is probably awesome. I, on the other hand, will sit here in my bedroom and whine on the internet like a normal Nintendo fan.

Back To Dream Land!

One of the first things I did when I got back to college was hit up the local Gamestop to see what's good. They treated me really well there last semester and low-traffic shopping malls are some of my favorite places to score inexpensive games. Among the games in the store was a Wii game I had heard about recently but knew very little about. Used some saved up store credit to grab myself a copy of the late Nintendo Wii title, Kirby's Return To Dream Land. 

Kirby's Return To Dream Land - 

Nintendo Wii 

Intro + Summary

In recent years, Kirby games have been reviewed consistently pretty well, but I never hear about many people playing them. Mostly, I hear about how the games are too short, too easy, or both, making the latest installments in the Kirby series simply not worth the $40 that could be spent buying other popular titles. This is why it took a lot of faith for me to invest in a Kirby game that cost $45 "used" after all these years. Still, I did it and I regret nothing. 

       Kirby's Return To Dream Land is a side-scrolling platformer that keeps the gay puff-ball's signature ability to inhale and copy his enemies at the forefront of the game-play experience. This time around, there are no yarn-related gimmicks or racing antics. It is just classic Kirby doing the thing he and we all love the most. This time, the antagonist is a mystery until the last chapter, and it becomes evident that the evil bad-guy is neither the classic Meta Knight nor King Dedede, because they are actually playable characters! Kirby's Return To Dream Land features 4 player co-op, much like how a number of modern Super Mario games do, making this title ideal for a either a group of friends looking to kick back and enjoy something silly and fun, as well as the perfect title for someone looking to play a fun single player game, which is how I played it.

      Does anyone remember Kirby's Nightmare In Dream Land? It's a GBA game that I remember being played by a lot of kids who lived through my generation of gaming. Nightmare In Dreamland was an incredible, memorable, and fun Gameboy Advanced game featuring the very same Pac-Man impersonator starring in today's review! Why bring it up? Because unlike the easy, short, and mildly boring Kirby games of recent times, Kirby's Return To Dream Land feels more like the fabulous Nightmare In Dream Land than any other comparable game in the series. In fact, it feels like a direct sequel - a game that takes what we all loved about Nightmare, and added to it, enhanced it, and further illuminated the bright world that was the Nightmare from which we never wanted to awaken. 

Good Things

Kirby's Return To Dream Land (at the time it was released) was one of the few times we saw the  Kirby formula in its purest form. Kirby's Squeak Squad for the Nintendo DS was received kind of well, Kirby's Epic Yarn although critically acclaimed was not the Kirby we all knew and loved, and the same could even be said about Kirby Air Ride for the Nintendo Gamecube, back in 2003. Kirby's Return is an awesome game because it succeeds in doing the things it tries to do. 

       For those who don't know, Kirby's only inherent ability is the ability to inhale enemies in each level. Kirby is usually able to copy the powers of his inhaled victims, sometimes resulting in Kirby wielding a sword, being able to breathe fire, or even turning into a laser-shooting UFO, all depending on the ability of the inhaled enemy. These copied abilities can be used to vanquish other enemies and reach the end of the level and/or unlock secret paths leading to collectibles. The main attraction to the classic Kirby games is the excitement that comes with using different powers in different levels. The objective of the game is to reach the end of each level, but the fun of the game comes from using different powers to do so. With this in mind, it becomes obvious that all any Kirby game would need to do in order to satisfy players is provide an abundance of fun levels in which the player can experiment with fun abilities. This, Kirby's Return To Dream Land does perfectly. I said PERFECTLY. With 7 worlds, 5 levels per world, 1 boss level per world, and countless collectibles whose collecting of allow you access to addicting mini-games, KRtDL offers non-stop variety in abilities and levels from the beginning to end, something recent Kirby games have been lacking. 

       To provide further contrast between Kirby's Return and more recent Kirby titles, I'd like to point out that Return has a very Nintendo-typical difficulty curve. For those who are unfamiliar, classic Nintendo games usually have a way of opening at an almost irresponsibly easy level, and then getting exponentially harder as the game progresses. I died in this Kirby game. I was concerned about my life-count in this Kirby game BUT, I never got frustrated at the Kirby game. Rather, I got frustrated at myself, because I got cocky once I noticed the game was easy and as soon as I got cocky, the game got hard. This game has the ideal difficulty level in my opinion. The later levels were quite difficult, but never made me want to rip my gorgeous hair out. The opening levels were difficult enough to suggest that I couldn't play the game with a blindfold on, while easy enough for me to learn naturally as I played. 

     Finally, a full arrangement of colors and appropriate art-style made this game a pleasure to look at, while its soundtrack literally had me going to Youtube and searching for the game's music even while the game was off, "Peaceful Place" being among my favorite tracks.

Short Comings

I find myself squinting and starring at the title of this section and saying "hmm...". Ehh I suppose you could say that this game isn't really much more than what it is. This is a platforming game starring Kirby and his friends using abilities to get from one end of the level to the other. The story is negligible and there isn't any depth to the game, nor is there anything that makes you care about Kirby other than how cute he is. Not that anyone was asking for an emotionally moving Kirby game! - I am just saying that this is not any game from which you'll walk away as a different person than who you were before you played it; it's just fun on a basic level. 

The game can be a tad-bit repetitive towards the end, as it is very possible to become fluent in the ways of every ability at around the 6 hour mark of this 8 hour game. However, that hardly makes the game any easier, plus the number of collectibles will keep any completionist playing for long after they complete the main story. I completed the main story and only achieved a 63% completion rating. This being said, the game is fun enough to justify an 8 hour story mode with ease. If this game was 20 hours, while it got repetitive after 6, we'd have a very different game here. 

     The final short-coming is the following: once the main story is completed, the only reason to continue playing is to obtain every collectible. Once every collectible is obtained, you will be able to unlock every mini-game, and that's it. The only incentive to extending your playtime beyond 10 hours is to unlock mini-games that are fun, but may not be worth the hours of grinding. I wouldn't know- I didn't unlock them all.

To Whom Would I Recommend This Game?

Nintendo fans, ANYONE who liked Kirby's Nightmare In Dream Land, anyone looking to play some fun local multiplayer, anyone who is looking for an excuse to dust off their Wii (or Wii U), anyone who wants to see Kirby on a console as opposed to a handheld, anyone in the mood to play something short and sweet

Number 3 Favorite Gamecube Game

Top 3!

Number 9 Favorite Gamecube Game

Number 9 spot!

Number 10 Favorite Gamecube Game

My tenth favorite Gamecube game!

This Bitch Contains Spoilers

I've been playing a whole bunch of Metroid Prime recently. I feel like I am somewhat near the end of the game, but I have hit what seems to be a little bit of a wall- and by "wall", I mean "huge fucking monster with fucking all this shit that he keeps using to fucking kill me over and over." I am currently up to the Omega Pirate fight in Metroid Prime, and it really is such a damn good boss fight. It got me thinking about other memorable bosses I've had to slay in the past 19 years, and I just felt like writing about some of my favorite, or least favorite ones.

Omega Pirate - Metroid Prime

Jesus Christ this boss had been wrecking my shit. Basically what happens is Samus enters a chamber with a giant fucking monster sealed inside. The monster appears to be locked inside a pod, but evidently, the real breakthrough in locking technology didn't come until well after these science experiments were stored away. So, of course, the monster sees Samus and breaks out of her prison with the purpose of becoming Samus' best friend and falling in love with her and making sure no harm ever befalls her for the rest of her days. So Ms. Omega Pirate starts fucking attacking you. She has 4 weak spots encased in ice and they all must be struck in order to weaken her. So you shoot some missiles at her icy limbs while dodging the shock waves emitted from her giant ground-pounding fists of doom BUT these attacks must be timed properly or else they will be absorbed by Omega Pirate. Once her limbs are annihilated, she will send in some of her subordinate bitches to distract you from attacking her while she becomes invisible and attempts to regain her health. If you are able to destroy her minions quickly, you will have enough time to strap on your X-ray visor to see the invisible asshole and shoot her in the chest. You gotta do this like, 4 times to beat her, and it's HARD. FUCK.

Deathborn - F-Zero GX

This was literally a race from hell. Captain Falcon basically gets transported to hell in order to race a guy named Deathborn. If Deathborn wins, he will be able to seize the power of light and darkness for himself and destroy the universe. Because that's how it works. So this track is long, there are so many sharp turns, there are bombs all over the track AND even if you manage to survive all of the crazy shit happening on the track, you still have to navigate that shit faster than Deathborn does. I could barely beat this guy on Easy mode; I can't imagine what it is like on Hard. This is one great game, but sometimes it is so unbelievably difficult, and this boss fight doesn't make it any easier.

Andross - Starfox Adventures

So basically after spending an ENTIRE game on foot, out of your arwing, and with a dinosaur at your side, you fight the final boss of this game, Andross, the SAME EXACT way you fight bosses in Starfox 64. Andross claims to be the one responsible for all of the misfortune that has befallen Dinosaur Planet, but he is NEVER mentioned before this fight, not even a little tiny bit. As soon as he appeared on my TV screen, I just screamed "What the hell!". Andross had NOTHING to do with Starfox Adventures, yet at the end of the game, there he is, waiting yet again to be slayed by Starfox and Falco. OH YEAH. Also Falco makes his first appearance in this game during the last boss fight. Apparently before the events of the game unfolded, he bailed to start his own star-team, but I guess it didn't work out(?)  This boss was in such contrast to the rest of the game that it is literally laughable. It's still fun in my opinion, but it is so sloppily done.

Giga Bowser - Super Smash Bros. Melee

Mwahahahahaha Giga Bowser! Event Match 51, everybody. I remember beating this colossal-sized King Koopa in elementary school. I remember my friend telling me that I had to use Jigglypuff's Rest attack in order to win. It wasn't until many years later did I go on to beat Giga Bowser and friends with Marth, Link, and Luigi, in addition to Jigglypuff, but before those days were simpler times and simpler melees. Now, I play this boss over and over just for fun but I used to really struggle with it. This boss isn't really too hard if you're good at Smash Bros., but it sure is fun.

Ganondorf  - Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

THIS boss. This may be my favorite boss fight in any video game I've played. Finally, after all these 20 years of Zelda do we get a real 1 on 1 sword fight with Ganondorf himself. I wish playing against this boss for fun was more viable. Tedious smaller boss fights between this final fight and the last time you are able to save the game puts about 20 minutes of playing other shit before I get to fight Ganondorf, but if that wasn't the case, I would play this fight everyday, and I am probably not kidding. You get a small arena in the middle of Hyrule field where you and Ganondorf each draw your swords and take turns swinging away and blocking all of the swift strikes dealt. No gimmicks, no waiting for him to expose his weak spot or become dizzy from doing his spinning-attacking or anything, just a straight-up duel. Of course, there is always the option to distract him by casting your fishing rod! The first item of the game comes back with an easter egg so lethal that you can almost save the world with it alone! But if that is not your style, you just lure him in and attempt to knock him about the arena with your master sword, ending the fight by...! Well you'll just have to play the game to find out.

Introducing: What's Good With That Game?

So first, a little prologue: I was getting a little bored with the Playground Series, so I decided to start a second series called What's Good With That Game. Allow me to state that the Playground Series, my series of reviews of games that meet certain qualifications, WILL continue, but will coexist with What's Good With That Game. WGWTG was conceptualized so that I could continue writing while I play new games. In the past, I've had to take breaks from writing in order to play new games to write about, but that sucks and WGWTG should create more opportunities for me to write without increasing the amount of time between each post.
What's Good With That Game will be an archetype of posts where I will describe a game that I have started playing only recently, and haven't finished yet. In each post, I will describe my initial feelings about the game, progress so far, what I am expecting, and what I didn't expect. Inspired by my friends all asking me "so what do you think of this game so far?" I imagine that this series is going to be a lot of fun, so I am more than excited to launch my first post right now. So get ready, because this next series is going to be so prime.

What's Good With That Game: Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime. This game's legacy extends beyond that of Halo, Gears of War, and Call of Duty, as it's debut from 2D to 3D made the jaws of players not only drop to the floor, but break through to the earth and pop out the other side of the planet. Much like how The Legend of Zelda switched from 2D to 3D on the Nintendo 64, the Metroid Series transcended dimensions on the Nintendo Gamecube. Frightened fans awaited the release of that tiny little disc and when they finally summoned the courage to start up their Gamecube's with the new game inside, they were spellbound. Samus Aran in 3D. It was amazing. Graphics, gameplay, story, depth, length, feel, controls. It's no wonder why I saw it's name make on of the top 3 spots on each and every list of Best Gamecube Games I came across. So why am I playing it for the first time at age 19, and not 10? Well, the reasons are as good as they are bad.

The game is deep. REALLY deep. The game is all story mode, much like Legend of Zelda, but the story is never explained to you. In fact, learning the story is almost optional. Keeping in mind that I am only about 20 percent through the game, it seems that the actual story behind Metroid Prime is contained in text scattered throughout the world Samus is exploring. In addition to each of Samus' weapons one may observe by playing Super Smash Bros, she has a myriad of abilities more geared towards exploration. One of these abilities is a scanner. Entering Scanner Vision will enable you, as the player, to scan different objects, enemies, and terrains in order to learn more about them. Often, the information gained by scanning is obvious, for example, when it comes to enemies, but other times, sections of terrain, buildings, and walls can be scanned. The information pulled from these locations sometimes is ancient Chozo writing translated by Samus. Reading this deciphered text is key to understanding the story, but is easy to miss. If you do miss these opportunities, then gameplay will still be fun, but you will lose a dimension of depth. After about a half hour of playing, I started asking myself "You know, running around shooting things is fun as fuck, but what the hell am I here for?" It wasn't until I started to make a habit of scanning my surroundings was I able to begin to understand the small puzzle pieces of the story. Once I realized that THAT is how the story was being told, I fell in love. 20% in, and I am in love with this game. It would appear that instead of spoon-feeding you the story via cutscenes, this game is making the player seek the story out. Every time I enter a new room, I become ecstatic at the possibility of learning more about the story. So basically, to answer my question asked about half-a-rant ago, this game didn't appeal to me as a child because there was a lot of reading, a lot of uncertainty of where to go next, and I didn't quite see the game for what it was.

So I am 20% into the game, and I am only putting it down to go to class or wipe my ass. I LOVE it. Next is a bit about what I didn't expect, and what I am expecting from now on.

I did not expect to like this game so much. I thought it was going to be too difficult for me, too boring, too dragged out. AND I thought I would hate it because it is in 1st person. I do NOT like first person games. In my most recent years, I have learned to appreciate 1st person cameras very occasionally (Mirror's Edge), but generally, they are not my cup of tea. Now that I am playing a 1st person Metroid game, I cannot see it working any other way. The whole idea of Metroid Prime (as far as I can foresee) is to keep the player guessing what is going to come next. It is not supposed to be mysterious in a creepy way, rather it is supposed to be mysterious in a magical way - in a way akin to the feeling you got when you were a little kid reading a Disney book. You would fall in love with all of the pictures and words on one page, then when you turn that page to see more, you are even more awestruck then you were on the previous page. That's how Metroid Prime is so far. By the way, ten years old and the graphics are only slightly worse than anything I've ever seen in a Halo game. For that reason, I have come to the conclusion that this game ages marvelously. Anyway, I didn't expect the game to be so multidimensional. There are so many layers to it, as I touched upon while describing the method by which you gathered the story. The controls are tight, the graphics are beautiful, and the depth is so appropriate.

20% into the game, I understand that even though this game is supposed to be amazing, maybe even the best on the Gamecube, games have flaws- even the best ones. I anticipate that the game might eventually feel a little dragged out, predictable, formulaic, and perhaps some longer sections may start to blend together. It would appear, so far, that the formula for this game is similar to that of Legend of Zelda, but without the dungeons. What I mean is that you seem to guide Samus through a medium-length section of the world, she'll find a new power-up which will allow you to progress further into the world, and occasionally, you'll fight a boss. It is not boring yet, but it may become, as I already stated, formulaic and predictable. I hope that I am wrong about my anticipation, but these kinds of issues are found all over the gaming world, especially with really good games. Legend of Zelda is the best example.

I have found 1 Chozo artifact. I wonder what they do and how they will work into the story. There's no questioning how they influence the gameplay - you will have to find all of them without the game just handing them to you periodically throughout the game, but their influence on the story is something that I am very excited to witness. Sections of the game require something called a Spider Ball. I can't wait to get that because it sounds so cool.

My incompletion of this game is essentially why I decided to terminate my Top Ten Favorite Gamecube Games series- because I understand that no list is complete without it, so once I finish this game, be on the lookout for a full review. Until then, Ill keep you updated with posts regarding my progress. Wish me luck!

Playground Series: What the Hell Am I Playing?

I'm sure by now, you guys are sick of hearing me say things that aren't about video games, so fuck me apologizing for not writing in a while. Let's just roll the next review out.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg


I've recently acquired about 20 new Gamecube games. So, where do you start playing? I figured I would start up 1 or 2 long games and 1 or 2 short games at a time, and just collect other games to save for later in between. One game that I wound up playing during all of this gaming madness was Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. I only read a little bit about this game in Gameradar's list of top 50 Gamecube games http://www.gamesradar.com/best-gamecube-games/ before I decided to never think about it again, simply because I could not imagine what I was reading actually being a real game. Well I am here tonight to discuss how I formally withdraw my original opinions of this game, and replace them with a whole new perspective on the concept of hatching eggs.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is an addictively ridiculous platformer developed by SEGA Sonic Team shortly after they released Sonic Adventure 2 in 2003. You play as a young boy named Billy who is thrown into a world ruled by chickens after he displays "great courage" by punching a small bird in the face in order to save his friends. Almost as soon as Billy arrives in Morning Land, he equips himself with a sacred Chicken Suit. This suit allows Billy to arm himself with giant eggs. Without an egg, Billy is pretty worthless, but WITH an egg, Billy is able to jump really high, ground pound the floor around him, ride on tracks meant to move eggs, and take out the evil crows by rolling the egg into them. The eggs, although are fragile, easily broken, and easily replaceable, utilize a basic upgrading system. It's nothing immersive, but it is important to know that when enemies are destroyed, they drop fruit. Roll an egg over the fruit, and the egg will grow. Eggs do more damage with each size-increase and a fully matured egg can be hatched by Mr. Billy Hatcher himself. A quick cock-a-doodle-doo will pop the egg open and potentially reveal 1 item from a large collection of possible egg-inhabitants. Different colored eggs hatch different items. More commonly found eggs can contain extra lives or collectables, but rarer blue or red eggs can contain animal assistants whose powers become yours to command upon hatching them. These animals help you solve puzzles or attack enemies once you befriend them in the ever-classic quest to reach one side of the level to the other.

The story is...well...it's a god damned kids game so who cares? There's an evil crow who wants to cast Morning Land into an eternal nighttime. Stop the evil crow, and do whatever everyone else tells you to do in order to beat the game. But if there is one thing everyone knows about kid's games, it's that they're fucking stupidly difficult. Unfortunately, poor game mechanics are responsible for a lot of the difficulty that this game has to offer, but they are not so plentiful that the game becomes unplayable (*coughSonicTheHedgehog2006cough*). So with any platformer, you really only have to consider a few different elements. Platforming video games date all the way back to 1981 Donkey Kong in the arcades, so when looking at modern platformers, you have to consider the factors that separate the games made today from the games made 30 years ago. You must consider graphics, originality, music (I guess), playability, and most importantly how much fun the game is to play. Well in my opinion Sonic Team spared very little cheese or tomatoes in this egg-wise adventure. Ill discuss each element separately.

Originality. So I don't know if you guys heard when I said it before, but your weapon...is an egg. A giant egg. It is important for those holding magnifying glasses to this game to note that the abilities you gain while holding an egg are not very original, as we have seen the ground pound/ butt bounce/ whatever you want to call it for years, but if rolling an egg into enemies in order to vanquish them isn't creative enough for you, then stop letting Stephen King set your creativity bar too high. You could say that this game is original because you roll an egg around in order to play, or you could say it's unoriginality is disguised by an egg, but either way, someone over at Sonic Team was ballsy enough to suggest that a game whose main attraction was rolling an egg would sell, and it did...at least...to me. Moving on.

Graphics. Let's see, 2003 graphics. Well we got Metroid Prime, F-Zero GX, and The Legend of
Zelda: The Wind Waker. Okay so the bar was set pretty high for graphics even in 2003. The visual importance of video games really became most noticeable upon the arrival of Playstation 2 games during the climax of it's career. Graphical legacies were also continued by Microsoft's Halo and Gears of War series, but if I had a dollar for every time someone mentioned how the graphics in Metroid Prime could rival those of modern games, I wouldn't have to go to college. That being said, graphical feats were not easily attainable in 2003, and unfortunately, it seams that Sonic Team missed the frying pan in this area. However, having average graphics will never mean that the game looks bad. Average graphics are a great canvas for a great art style. Wind Waker is the perfect example. While Billy Hatcher doesn't feature graphics of any impressive quality, it is a delightfully bright and colorful game, complimenting it's playful, light-hearted gameplay, and REALLY catchy music. You're god damn rolling an EGG. Does anyone really need goodgraphics for this?? What was really necessary for this game, were bright colors, and Sonic Team nailed that.

Like I said before, the game feels a little underdeveloped. Perhaps it is Sonic Team tradition to leave dumb mechanics in their games, or maybe it is the fact that Billy Hatcher is run by the same engine that ran Sonic Adventure 2 - a game whose glitches are almost as famous as it's level design, but like I said before, the difficult sequences of BH:GE are the result of a few poorly designed game mechanics. Some enemies are just too annoying, maintaining control while moving with your fragile egg is about 20% harder than it should be, and small mistakes are often extremely unforgiving to the point where you question why you're playing this game even more than you are intended to. The game is still very much playable, as these annoying mechanics are not found in every level, but when they do show up, you will die in your heart a little bit for every time Billy dies as a result of their bullshit.

Overall, Billy Hatcher really is a fun game. The level designs vary greatly from stage to stage, and are always a pleasure to look at. Sometimes the game can be too hard for all of the worst reasons, but in the end, you never really did expect a game that featured weaponized eggs to be 100% solid, did you? This game is 15 dollars on Amazon. Considering the fact that 15 is enough to get Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe, SSX 3, Wave Race: Blue Storm, Mario Golf Toadstool Tour, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time or F-Zero GX, I would say that it may not be worth getting immediately, but if you ever run into it at your local Play N Trade like how I did, it may be destiny telling you to either play this title, or grab an omelet.

81/100
-10 Points - occasionally clumsy controls
-5   Points - occasionally dumb stupid mechanics
-4   Points - sometimes the game feels a little boring, as levels tend to be a bit too long, resulting in the witnessing of the same music and visuals for up to 15 minutes at a time
50  Points - originality
10  Points - visual appeal
6    Points - Audio appeal
10  Points - the game is not very long, but the amount of optional levels, in addition to the main story, makes the game feel like it is how long you want it to be
5    Points - the multiplayer is EXACTLY what you want it to be

Playground Series 1: Most Underrated Gamecube Game

I welcome you all to my first post in the Playground Series! The details regarding my next series of posts can be found in my last post, so if you're confused about what I am doing for a little bit, please scroll down to check it. But then scroll up because this next review is simply out of this world.

Funny story about this next game- literally, I think the entire world is split 50-50 about this title. For every one of my friends who claimed to love this game, another one claimed to hate it. Furthermore, everyone seems to have played it when they were "little" and they ALL got stuck early in the game and retired it to the shelf of forgotten games. Amateurs, I say, as they've all missed a classic gaming experience due to the ignorance of youth. I wanted to get you guys excited about my next series, so I start with this first title:

Starfox Adventures
OKAY WAIT DON'T CLICK AWAY YET.

Yes. I am perfectly aware of how people feel about this game, as I have already stated. Some people love it, and others hate it. To me, the reason why the audience is so divided when it comes to this game is quite obvious, but before I get to that, I must reveal a dark fact about this game, and before I get to THAT, I will talk to the non-video gamers for a second-
When it comes to Starfox Adventures, all you need to know is that you run around as a humanoid fox, named Fox, and you help dinosaurs thwart the attempts that antagonist General Scales makes at taking over the universe. In past Starfox games, Fox, and his team of fighter pilots, shot the shit out of things in their badass fighter space-jets and it was fucking cool. Has anyone ever told you to "DO A BARREL ROLL"? They were referencing Starfox, and don't tell me they weren't.

So Starfox 64, for the Nintendo 64, featured fighter-planes, and Starfox Adventures for the Gamecube featured nagging dinosaurs. Why are these games so different? Because Starfox Adventures was never meant to be a Starfox game. THAT'S RIGHT. Originally, the protagonist of a game called Dinosaur Planet was supposed to be a humanoid fox who coincidentally resembled Fox McCloud, but was a different fox altogether. Nintendo caught an earful of this concept and stepped in basically saying if any humanoid foxes are going to be in a video game, they're going to be Fox McCloud. So a quick rethinking of the game's concept put Fox McCloud as the protagonist of Dinosaur Planet, and thus, we have Starfox Adventures - A very atypical Starfox game.

This is where the audience splits. The fans of Starfox 64 could not find it in their hearts to replace
Arwings with Dinosaurs, a Blaster with a magical Staff, and a team of trusty fighter pilots with dinosaurs. To be honest, fair enough, as this is a HUGE transition. But those who could get over the overhaul (and buy a copy of Starfox Assault to ease out of their withdrawal) were exposed to an entirely new and beautiful adventure of Starfox. Absolutely this game is no traditional Starfox game, but is it a bad game? No. It is just different than what most players wanted and expected.
This game is rarely seen on any list of best video games, whether that list is on Gamespot or in someone's heart. I suspect that the reason for this exclusion is because this game is rarely seen for what it actually is- a Legend of Zelda game.

This game does not in anyway really feel like a Starfox game. That is basically the thesis statement of this review. But it is important to understand that the differences between Starfox Adventures and Starfox 64 ultimately become the similarities between Starfox Adventures and every single Legend of Zelda game of all time. Legend of Zelda? Like that game that is pretty much considered to be one of the greatest video game franchises of all time? Yes. Yes, like THAT game. So how is it possible for a game like Starfox Adventures to be bad, when it is exactly like Legend of Zelda, which stands as an amazing game? The answer: It's NOT possible. For those dumbfounded by my claims, here are some similarities between the two:
-During the first play-through of both Starfox Adventures (and we'll say Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), you are rarely 100% sure of where to go next. Figuring out where your next objective is to be completed is never impossible, but is usually challenging.
-Both games feature non-linear gameplay with a linear story. (Ocarina of Time is a bad example of this, but shut up.)
-Both games feature dungeon-like sections, where the player is forced to navigate through long strings puzzles and enemies in order to reach the end and collect some kind of item or complete some kind of goal.
-Items and upgrades are obtained and necessary in order to progress forward through the game.
-Both games feature an NPC who assists you through the game.
-The combat systems of both games, from attacking to defending, are nearly identical.
-The combat systems of both games (fighting in general) is necessary to use to the same extent.
-Both games sport similar difficulties.
-Both games sport similar lengths and replay value.

Honestly, I can't believe that no one ever told me about this before. Both my brother and I have agreed that this game plays like all Legend of Zelda games, and that that became obvious after about 15% into the game. Upon having this epiphany, we each found playing the game to be much easier and enjoyable. Being that my brother and I are both avid Zelda fans, realizing that we were playing a closet Legend of Zelda game gave us a better idea of what clues to look for, and which items and weapons to use while navigating each level. It is my inference that says typical Starfox fans will find themselves unprepared for the challenge of this game, but experienced Zelda fans will be perfectly equipped to tackle and enjoy Starfox Adventures.

I feel simply that this game is underrated because most of the gamers who played this game turned out to be disappointed Starfox 64 fans. Fans of the Metroid and Legend of Zelda series would undoubtedly receive this game better. All in all, if you love Starfox, don't play this game. If you love Zelda, you don't want to miss this one.

I realize this post was more of a discussion rather than a review, but if you must know, I'd give this game a 9/10.
-9.0 points are achieved by this game's general difficulty, tight controls, non-repetitive gameplay, length, and of course, how fun it is.
-1.0 points are lost because at times, the soundtrack can be weak, some of the puzzles can be a little too annoying, and there is a severe underdevelopment of the characters.