Dream_Imp_Luna

Originally, I might have been willing to give this abomination of a Mario title some slack, given it DID possess a tiny bit of value back then, but that was because I didn't realize the full extent of the horrors of this game. Now, given how this has single-handedly ruined the Mario franchise for gamers like me, this abomination literally doesn't deserve ANY sort of forgiveness WHATSOEVER, much less empathy or love. Essentially just a gloomy, depressing shadow of what Mario once was. Besides the obvious, such as the Capture and Power Moon innovations, there's literally NO other redeeming values of this title. It is essentially just a Super Mario 64 / Sunshine clone with its signature mechanic replaced with its Capture mechanic, and nothing much else more, if any at all, and essentially just a shadow of what was originally Mario. And I'm speaking in at-best terms here. At worst, it not only possesses those same qualities, it goes well beyond them; it ruins everything we've come to know about Mario, and just depicts them, Mario, Peach, and Bowser, in particular, as nothing more than gross, immature beings only fighting for a Princess's heart, all while the Princess herself shows no intention of living a meaningful life, or any sort of life, for that matter, other than being the head honcho of her own castle with Toads that essentially Do Absolutely Nothing other than just general craziness. Not the heroes we've imagined as warrior against dragon saving princess, but rather, two immature, mindless lovers, after an airheaded Princess, who all three often if not always come off as rude, if not mean and ugly. Disgusting. When it came to thoughts in moments in my life such as Peach rejecting a proposal of Mario's, or Mario getting upset about a whole usual Princess kidnapping situation, what I was never expecting - was for this game to leave a deep wound in my heart deep inside my body and soul, and still give me excruciating pain to this day. The sheer, overwhelming amount of pain, that had come from this wound in my heart, still hurts today, and Super Mario Odyssey brought along this tragic injury. It's an absolutely terrible, complete, betrayal of what Mario used to be, and trust me, especially with the comics to compliment it, it CLEARLY shows. This really just goes to show how deep a hole Nintendo's gotten themselves into, but, to be fair, it's not really Nintendo's fault that this game has scarred gamers' hearts like mine, at least not entirely or directly. If we had to blame anyone, it would be the Nintendo fanbase, and the gaming fanbase in general. The sheer amount of unwillingness to accept, let alone embrace, innovation and change in gaming and technology in general, really, especially by fanbases, even back in 2017, had to be quite overwhelming, and this is why Nintendo is struggling these days, while games, such as COD and pretty much any Battle Royale out there, have no problem with money and success. But in fact, this statement, if anything, would only be more relevant today, and one can only suspect it's starting to take its toll on video games and even Nintendo nowadays. I do remember when I first saw that this game had lost its ranking in the User Score section of Universal acclaim, having been demoted to Generally favorable reviews, and although normally I wouldn't really state that, especially given it's only a 0.1 point decrease, only just putting it shy of Universal acclaim, this rating is in fact WELL deserved for a title that is less than nothing more than a generic 3D Mario Sandbox game with its signature mechanic being Captures, one that shoves a tragic reality in our face NONE of us should have to put up with, much less get used to. STOP. We've had enough of this. Mario wasn't just built on mechanics, controls, and gameplay. It was built to have THOSE be the core of Mario that would pave the way for more interesting stories, plot, and lore - and ironically, more innovative mechanics, controls, and gameplay, in return. Mechanics, controls, and gameplay are the core of the Mario franchise, not simply Mario ITSELF as a whole. While I normally wouldn't ask this, given this is generally frowned upon by the public, I'm asking you: it would be nice for you to mark this review as Helpful to show your support, that we're not putting up with this chaos anymore, and it's time for us to stand up to all this. Of course, you don't have to mark it as helpful for that specific reason, in fact, you don't have to mark it as helpful at all, as per usual; I'm just giving you a nice recommendation here. I'm certainly not making you, of course. In short, I'm swearing off playing this game ever again. It's not only the most depressing Mario game I've ever played in my life, it's also undoubtedly the WORST Mario game I've ever played - heck, even the worst Mario game after that I can and would DEFINITELY enjoy, even with all it's shortcomings. Thank you so much for listening.

This is another review in which I wish to come clean on. This isn't necessarily a bad game in the sense that I still DO play it today; I just don't often like how it works (and that's mainly why I'm giving it that low a score) - the argument you can build anything you imagine is only half true in this game as for my argument. This only applies to form, never to function, in the most technical sense. For example, you'd be hard-pressed to build a working excavator, at least not a life-like one, in Minecraft - it's impossible due to how the game works! On a less obvious note, a castle wouldn't be of much use, at least not in the traditional sense. This is because there's none of the traditional factors of a castle: people to work in it and protect it, a king to rule it, enemies to attack it, and soldiers to guard it. The lack of dynamics and such in the game's mechanics (including redstone) is arguably the game's weakest point - and definitely my biggest gripe with the game - in a game where you're expected to be able to build anything you can imagine. Some players actually view this as a game, and it falls short on satisfying that sector of gamers. The community is also a mess, and that is in fact how I became a negative person at one point. Obviously, I brought this on myself in the end ultimately, but I could still hardly blame myself if I became this way due to the community. It often spoke about doom and gloom, not to mention trolls, and this was especially so in the dark ages of Minecraft, back in 2014 - 2018(?). I shouldn't even have to mention that if you found today's micro-transactions more of genuine scams and less of game features, I would argue that the problem is 10x worse on Minecraft servers - where the rules are often twisted to prevent you from ever standing a chance in minigames, concurring a situation where you have two choices - where you either have to live with it, or pay up, meaning that you often have to pay to even enjoy the minigames, let alone succeed in it. Overall, the game had a lot of potential, but I feel was marred by Mojang's haphazard direction on the game itself and the lack of concern for ever providing a solid goal and point in the game, not to mention Minecraft servers that are arguably 10x worse than traditional pay-to-win mobile games, which I bet Mojang never really took into consideration as well. Now, again, this is certainly not to say that I'll won't be playing Minecraft - in fact, I still do enjoy the game to an extent. I just feel like things could've been done a whole lot better for this game, and in a world where we expect the latest and greatest today, we're not seeing any of that advancement with Minecraft, really. If you're wondering why you get bored of worlds in Minecraft and start new ones instead of spending months much less years on worlds, this should be enough information for you. Pret-ty disappointing, if you ask me. If only Mojang were "Craft-y" to begin with. In fact, this game and its flaws and current flaws especially, are the impetus for a MC mod I've been working on that plans to not only bring dynamics to this game, but provide a meaningful point and viewpoint to this game, among other things that should make Minecraft tick all the boxes it needs to. I'm putting all my hope into the success of this mod, and hopefully it will provide y'all all the stuff y'all ever wanted and needed in this game. Cheers.

I've figured I'd reword my previous review, to give a better, more sophisticated viewpoint on it. To sum it all up first and foremost, I actually stopped playing it very early on, and often found myself skipping stages with the skip badge just to get to the fun parts of the game, which were the fortresses and castles. I would certainly love to continue this game, but sadly, it never really clicked with me, which is why I stopped. The graphics and soundtrack are great, I'll give Good-Feel that. It's very charming, and it really makes you feel happy inside. In fact, that's a big part of why I'm not rating this lower. Unfortunately, the visuals and soundtrack don't even make up for the uneventful, boring gameplay I've experienced from this I'm about to tell you. A lot of stages felt like a boring slog, where I was just running around trying to find the solution to a puzzle, or just simply getting to the goal, all of that with nothing really eventful or noteworthy in-game. This really killed the fun I could've had from this game, and that's why I'm giving this a negative review. Overall, I wouldn't really recommend this game at all if you have a low tolerance for running around aimlessly trying to find the solution or where there's not really much happening. If you're a general Yoshi fan and don't mind all that, be my guest. If you find a "thread" of truth in this game, I'm glad you enjoy it then. lol (Sorry, I couldn't think of a better joke. : ) )

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] This reiteration of Mario into 2d isn't a BAD one and thus isn't a BAD game, by any means, but even though it was impressive for its time especially when then compared to later entries of essentially the same name, this is still slightly disappointing and lacking somewhat in content when we actually stop and question the game itself. It is impressive that a new Powerups were introduced into the game - especially those as the Mega and Mini Mushrooms that certainly allowed players to alter the experience in a fun and exciting way, and let's not forget the Koopa Shell Powerup that allows for Koopa Shell-style movement across the levels as well as pummeling enemies and breaking down obstacles along the way - but although there are certainly more new power ups than in later titles, there wasn't actually that many powerups to go off of, and that in itself is disappointing for some players who would've loved to have a large variety of powerups at their arsenal. The levels are unsatisfyingly generic even for what it was at the time; I actually found myself getting bored at times, more often than not in fact, just trying to push through the levels that don't really have that much variety in them anyway. The controls are also a bit shoddy and slippery even for its game theme; these controls, along with more questionable enemy hitboxes, actually goes as far as making combo stomping much more difficult, especially on an emulator where gameplay is slow, than previous Mario titles, where it was relatively easy to a degree if not easily executed. The soundtrack, however, is actually quite strong even for what the sub-series is now; some of the tracks are very melodic, and the graphics are also quite strong even for the limited hardware of the DS, especially with the true 2d sprites, which some are actually very colorful and beautiful, unlike the next installment NSMBW, which actually had somewhat questionable/ugly graphics. Overall, more, especially much more, could've been put into the design of the game as a whole, especially being New Super Mario Bros. That's not to say, however, that it needed much improvement much less was a bad game in any way at all; the game actually fulfills its bare minimum requirements for that New Super Mario Bros.-gamestyle quota, but it could've easily used more, and again, especially much more, with better, more fun and exciting level design, probably more powerups, tighter and thus and otherwise better controls, and an overall more fun experience. As one of two last notes, although the wireless multiplayer would be fun in theory and still actually can be, this is weighed down by the mediocre level design, and along with all its other problems, would actually make the multiplayer little to not satisfying, and your partner would likely quit after only a short time if they were in the same position as me, due to boredom or something else. Personally, the game was only slightly satisfying for me, and would get a lower to mid mixed rating at best. I've experienced some of if not all the same problems with gameplay fun as the objective review exhibits, and although this personally would get a decent rating, this is only a mediocre title that, while quite well executed, had fully plenty of room for improvement and could've used a lot more in the long run, especially with the later titles getting even fewer over time. What a crying shame for what was genuinely once quite a fun, diverse franchise.

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] Sadly, no other RCT game can match up to this title even 15 years later. The setup and the overall expansions and execution are THAT perfect. There are virtually no problems with it, and although it does divert from the original RCT formula by having no absolute deadlines and having instead a set of goals that when all completed move you up to the next scenario level (Apprentice; Entrepreneur; Tycoon), which may turn some hardcore players off, this is obviously a step forward with the scenario system of RCT, and doesn't break the realism much to boot. Out of literally all the RCT titles, this one happily has the most content, and that's not even including the expansion packs, which showcase even much much more content - content we sadly may never get to see ever again, at least not at the level of caliber it is. This includes many more, and quirky, rollercoasters, rides, stalls, water parks and rides, zoos, etc., you name it. Sadly, one set of fatal flaws prevent this title from reaching a perfect 10, and that is the occasional crashes and other such bugs. I myself have encountered at least several of these crashes, and they do seem to get worse with each newer version of Windows (the platform I usually, if not always, play it on). Sadly, this is solely what prevents this title from reaching a perfect 10, and that is a shame for the height of the series. Overall, Almost, if not completely, perfect execution of RCT for this title then and even now. The amount of content is just staggering, and this may be the most content we'd ever get to see in the RCT series. Unfortunately, the occasional crashes and other such problems prevent this from reaching a perfect 10, and that makes me sad.

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] There wasn't much that was interesting about the levels - they were pretty generic even for what at least seemed like a nice old-school diversion from the traditional 2d Mario formula - it turned out to be their excuse to do 2d Mario without actually innovating much as we've seen in the distant future. However it was also good that the Koopalings had returned to the Mario formula - a smart move by Nintendo for a series where all characters should at least have a substantial part in it. But there is very little replay value, and some sections of the game were really just punishing, as opposed to difficult - there's actually a difference here. Also, some of the levels are a pain to make it through, and even more so when dying on the tail end of one with no check-points. In fact, my first playthrough of this game involved getting to both World 5 and World 8 Warp Cannons just to get to World 8, get past the rather painful final boss, and complete the game, just to get it done. The controls are also pretty shoddy on this one as well. We've already had difficulty multi-stomping enemies and doing Bulldozer Attacks for a long time due to collision issues, but the shoddy controls on this title make it even more painful to do so, if not impossible. Also, overall, the game is just pretty boring in general even for New Super Mario Bros. early on, though that's not to say that it DOESN'T have meritable fun value for what it is.

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] For a Mario Party game closing out and concluding their N64 era and their original trilogy, it fits perfectly as the best in the trilogy itself and the series then. Although 2 DOES remain the best out of the trilogy, at the time 3 was it's high point in the trilogy and the series itself, when N64 was on its way out but was still king in those and all regards. The character selection is easily one of the best, with Princess Daisy and Waluigi making starring appearances - adding on to an already awesome character-set predefined in the beginning - and making for a perfect conclusion to the original trilogy character formula. The graphics have obviously been greatly improved on, as well as the soundtrack. It's much more memorable than the previous two, and some of them, especially on some boards, have theming that is quite unique to the Mario franchise as a whole and was rarely IF EVER seen again. The minigames suit both casuals and hardcores both perfectly well, both even more so than the previous two. Even hardcores may find the more casual games a relaxing break from their hectic play and therefore should not be considered a turnoff, although it cannot be denied that some players may be turned off by it. The boards are easily some of the most memorable in the entire franchise and particularly this original trilogy. Some theming, such as pack camels, Christmas, the 'No Step On Thin Ice' sign in the Chilly Waters board, and the Creepy Cavern board in general, is nothing to be forgetful about, and really adds a great deal of flair to the graphical design and game of the series as well. That said, sadly, it DOES suffer from some of the usual problems when it comes to Mario Party across all games. First, there's the impression that players are punished for playing well, and those that play 'poorly' are often, if not always, rewarded. That's not to say that this has considerable merit, much less entirely true. The minigames STILL allow for some sufficient play, but overall remains generally casual, which as aforementioned can still turn off hardcore players. Also, going back to the usual Mario Party problems, they're MUCH MORE suppressed in this title this time around - they're MUCH better than what would and was usually the case. However, it still DOES exist somewhat at the VERY least. Overall, very nice, positive game. Virtually no problems with it outside of the usual, and everything - the graphics, the soundtrack, the boards, the minigames, the hub areas; you name it - has AT LEAST some memorability to it. Unfortunately, it does suffer from some of the same problems Mario Party usually has, but are much less so than the usual algorithm it has to sit on.

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] This is a true shine behind AAA production. The levels are easy, fun, and not frustrating (although there ARE some frustrating bits, especially with the final extra level), the diverse character selection allows for a variety of different gameplay styles, and even the challenge of having to complete all stages with all characters - while may turn some players off, and admittedly could've been done out with entirely - gives players the incentive to go out of their comfort zone with different characters besides their favorite and try and master the courses with these outliers. The multiplayer mode possesses a special kind of multiplayer known as Competitive Co-op. While it may turn off some players from playing its multiplayer as a direct result, this essentially allows for two types of play: One where one player contributed the most, and the other direct competition for the high score. Bundling both those together may seem like a poor decision by Nintendo, and admittedly could've been done better, but it prevents the iteration time of HAVING to select a mode out of the two, which allows for the player to get right into the multiplayer action had have the heck of the time out of it. The soundtrack and graphics, while remaining generic, also still remain wonderful and memorable. Everything about these two factors of the game itself were perfectly executed, and come off as a true memory, unlike other titles, in the hearts of many Mario gamers everywhere. Going back to the levels, although they admittedly still remain more or less generic as like the New Super Mario Bros. series, many of them are very unique, and even failing that are actually very fun to play through. This is what actually makes for good Mario content: Fun, unique, thoughtfully designed levels that failing everything else, remain fun for most of if not the entire audience. Sadly, the worst part of the game itself would have to go down to the controls. Even though they're NOT bad, unlike certain other and later titles, at least, AT LEAST, they're not in the usual way. Sure, stomping on enemies multiple times is still discouraged, but it's not as bad as would usually be the case in this scenario, and I still cannot take off points for that since it's the usual algorithm for this scenario. Overall for that, it's better than most 3D Mario titles, but still could use some improvement. Overall, this title deserves a perfect 10 despite its usual problems when it comes to controls, level design, and other such stuff, among other things. This game is just beautifully designed, and admittedly could also use some bias for how incredibly well-done this game is. It still objectively deserves the perfect 10, though.

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] The game was made by a non-professional outsourcing company, so we cannot take off points for that. This game was one of the very last of at least the 2d 'Mario' platformers out there that was ambitious with its innovation rather than just slight like with later Mario titles. This game was a reflection of a 'modernized' Mario to come in the future only for it to be called out by Nintendo as 'sexist' and a 'failure with overambition' - leading to a franchise that has never really evolved from its roots since that time. The graphics and soundtrack were very well composed, and still hold up even by 2010-2019 standards. The levels, while admittedly very generic and may turn off some players, still offer mystery and wonder at times, and even an incentive to explore and try out the different paths to the goal, even after 100%'ing the entire game - giving this title a strong replay value for what it is especially when compared to other titles, despite the generic story, plot, and gameplay. The role-reversal was not just impressive - it was critical in a time followed by a refusal to branch out far in terms of innovation both by that and the over-sexism of women even for Peach's personality type. This also proved, along with the Vibe Gauge, that Peach has magic - a damning but potentially unofficial piece of proof for that statement even for its mild argument for it. The game showed just the potential that Mario had for its future and its fans, and not only was ignored completely, but had backfired on those fans resulting in the relatively uninnovative Mario franchise we have today. The Vibe System was very innovative for its time, and is still rarely, if ever, used today, and fits perfectly with Peach's character and lore, both speculated and confirmed. Even though some areas are cheesed easily and Peach doesn't have much danger of death in the game, there still IS risk involved, and certain Vibes are just so slow or slippery that they'd discourage cheesing anyway, psychologically forcing players to actually platform and play sufficiently anyways. I haven't even mentioned that the Vibe Gauge can run out, forcing players to play sufficiently until they can reacquire Vibe Power again anyways on top of all that. Some areas of the game may be confusing to some players and may make online consulting mandatory for those players, but all of them can be figured out on their own, thankfully, preventing any sort of poor direction with the player with the game itself. Overall, the game was very well-designed for a non-professional outsourcer, and have made many other greater titles in the past. Obviously not their best work - this was their first portrayal into a full platformer, but it's a very solid title for what it is and still holds up relatively well today, as if it were only just released a few months ago (a la New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe).

[OBJECTIVE QUALITY REVIEW] The controls with the planetary movement just had little if any heart put into them - they simply don't work well when upside down. They should just keep moving in the same direction when GOING upside down and then work 'normally' when ALREADY upside down. Also, the graphics, despite looking realistic, and admittedly even more so than Odyssey's, aren't the best either. Also, and especially considering the aforementioned controls, some challenges of the galaxies in the game are punishing, rather than difficult - because they either require unnecessary amounts of precision, or just simple leave you with no real choice or direction on how to deal with them, at least not right-off-the-bat. Overall, as a result of all of this, the only real reason to get engaged in this game in the long run is completing the main game - the post-game is just boring, tedious, and frustrating to deal with as a whole. Fans that rate this game high should try out other galaxy-style games and compare them, and maybe they'll find the latter objectively better than the former. What a shame.