SuperMatt777

Mario Party Superstars is essentially what I truly hoped The Top 100 could have been and a game I never thought they'd actually make; bringing back not only 100 mini-games from the series history, but also returning to the series true roots and bringing back five boards from the N64 titles. As a series fan since the very beginning, Superstars is a true homage to what made the series great while also including quality of life changes that the more modern Super Mario Party introduced. The mini-game line up is, for the most part, phenomenal and the board selections were just as good, even if I would've rather seen a few others. There are a few nitpicks about this game, however, ones that I can deal with, but they are still details that could've made this game even better than it already is. I think the personal big thing for me is the somewhat imbalance of mini-game representation. I know it's clear that the N64 titles were the spotlight titles, but the rest of the series seems to take a back seat to them. Only Mario Party 6 managed to equal itself to an N64 title, but Mario Party 3 has literally double the amount of mini-games that both 1 and 6 have. And to address the MASSIVE elephant in the room, Mario Party 8 has only two mini-games in the entire roster. To say the least, the Wii/Wii U era was severely underrepresented. On top of the imbalanced mini-game representation, it's disappointing to see there isn't any sort of unlockable board or characters, something even Super Mario Party had. Beyond that, with the heavy focus on every mode having online, it leaves a lack of any sort of single player campaign. I'm not necessarily asking for a full story mode like in Mario Parties 3 or 4, but something as small as another Mini-Game Island would've been heavily appreciated, especially since The Top 100 did that so well. Overall, I think Mario Party Superstars is the best title in the series in a long time. While I still praise Super Mario Party and place it up there with the greats, Superstars manages to top it easily. After the strange directions 9, 10, Island Tour and Star Rush took, Super Mario Party was a breath of fresh air, but Superstars is the true party I've been dreaming of. I really hope Nd Cube continues on this path for future installments.

I went into this game knowing what it was; it's a bridging game to get the people who played Pokemon Go, but not an actual game. But as a fan who's been with Pokemon since Gen 3, how does it stack for someone like me? Well... I'll be honest, it doesn't. Let's get into the nitty gritty here. Pokemon Let's Go is, what I'm sure to be, a remake of Pokemon Yellow, with the additional version for Eevee fans. Right off the bat, it's the best Kanto has ever looked, with the nice visuals being present from the start till the end. I do feel it's a good looking game. And I'll be real, I didn't feel like I was getting bored through the story itself. Sure it's nothing new, but the few little changes placed here and there, be it big story changes or just little details that reference bits of the originals or even future games, are nice through and through. For example, Vermilion City has a gentleman in his house with a Farfetch'd stating he wants to go catch a Spearow, a clear reference to the little girl who would trade her Farfetch'd for a Spearow in the original games. I like the attention to detail, even if they don't impact much. While the idea of Pokemon GO catching mechanics worked okay in the game, I definitely do not want to see it become the new normal and I certainly don't want to see it come back for a future title. I know that paragraph is pretty short for the pros of the game, but I can't help but say these games are FAR from the best the series has to offer. While the director of the games calls them core games, I can't see them as anything but spin-off titles. It doesn't matter who this game was targeted to, the amount of staple ideas removed does not cut it for a core game in my eyes. The game is missing around half of the established moves from past games, the inability to have hold items, removal of abilities, removal of more than 600 Pokemon and more, there's too much missing and there really is no excuse for it. You can make a game that is beginner friendly that doesn't remove half of Pokmeon's established progress. Hold items, maybe I can understand that. But the removal of abilities is something that won't sit right with me regardless. Even the idea of only 151 Pokemon can be worked around, instead of the developers sticking to their favorite Kanto only Pokedex. It's as simple as introducing a large number of gen 2-7 Pokemon AFTER you beat the game. I know that Pokemon Let's Go are meant to be bridging points for people who only played Pokemon GO, but I don't think that should've been how Pokemon made it's true debut on the Switch. There's a difference between the fanbase that's been with Pokemon for a long time and people who only played Pokemon GO cause they have a phone. And to regard the fact that this is the fifth trip back to Kanto doesn't do it for someone who isn't Kanto nostalgic. I would truly recommend these games to the very audience they're targeting; the Pokemon GO only players. If you've never played a Pokemon game, I can even recommend Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon beforehand, even if those games have their own flaws. But for those who have been with Pokemon for a long time, best save your excitement and your money for the 2019 titles. These aren't terrible games, but they're not for those looking for a true Pokemon experience.

The Mario Party series has seen a lot in the last few years and sadly to say, not much of it has been good. Ever since the infamous fall that is Mario Party 9, the series has not seen stable ground for a while. All this is my personal opinion, but 10 attempted to give 9's gameplay another chance, but that still fell short. Island Tour was a stranger turn for the series that still felt weak in my eyes. Star Rush was a step in the right direction and lasted longer than the other three and the Top 100 was a nostalgic rush that was executed rather poorly. So what of Super Mario Party? Where does that stand? Hopefully my thoughts help with that. Let's start with the gameplay... it's finally back. They have finally done away with the car and brought back the individual moving turns with coin collecting and star hunting. I'm sure this is what fans have been waiting for. And I for one did indeed enjoy it. I've played a few matches of the main game and I did thoroughly enjoy myself and the friends I played with can say the same. While I did love the Top 100, this is the first core, home console game I've fully enjoyed since Mario Party 8 and that alone boosts my spirits. The gameplay is there, but is is a bit simpler than the first 8 core titles. There is the game's own unique spaces, such as Ally Spaces, but outside of that, the basics are mostly the only other things; Blue and Red for coins, Happening for events, Item for items and Lucky/Unlucky spaces for a bit of random spice. I can't fault this simple approach, even if I myself prefer the diversity of the originals. But Super Mario Party also does one thing that only one other title has ever done; the character you play as has a much bigger impact on the game. In a similar vein to Mario Party 7's Character Capsules and identically to Star Rush, each character has their own dice block, each with a different variety of faces that can either move you farther than a normal dice block, not move you at all or give/take away coins. There's a bit more strategy to dice rolls and even if the character has a bad looking dice, it can still be useful under the right circumstances. My only true gripe with the mode is the lack of boards. There are only four, two less than the average game. And the boards themselves are very small, small enough that, with a stacked team of allies, someone can cover half the board in a turn and get multiple stars if they're lucky. It feels a bit too compacted in my opinion, but it's still fun if you have a nice group to play with. The mini-games are the next topic and they do a great job of showcasing what the Joy-Cons can do. I didn't play 1-2 Switch, but I feel this game trumps it without even lifting a finger. The games can rely on motion controls, standard button inputs or even the Joy-Con's rumble features, which are a bit more unique, even compared to the GameCube titles. They are a great set of mini-games and while I haven't played all of them, the ones I have played are pretty great. Sadly I haven't played many modes outside of the main party so I can't say much there. I may expand on this review later on when I have. But for now, Super Mario Party is the step the series has desperately needed. Perfect? I wouldn't say that, but it's fun in it's own unique way and is still a great improvement from the previous titles. Perhaps in the future, Nintendo will fully go back to the expansive style of the first 8 games, but for now, I can safely say this is another series Nintendo has improved upon. Super Mario Party is straight up fun and I'm glad I can say that. And in my eyes, there's only one franchise left that can use a proper fixing. Paper Mario, here's hoping you're next.

Mario Tennis Aces is a clear step up from Mario Tennis Ultra Smash back on the Wii U, which is an automatic plus. The game is actually packed with content and still maintains the crisp and clean tennis action. And with a nice roster of characters that is set to keep growing, Mario Tennis Aces has a lot to offer. But even with the improvements, there are still things to be said about this game. Gameplay first, it is clean and fantastic, hands down. The new gameplay features add a lot to the traditional tennis gameplay and make it even more fast paced than before. You have to think about a lot when playing with all the gimmicks, from Zone Shots to Zone Speed to special shots, you have to pay attention to a lot of things when playing and that's what adds a bit of strategy. There have been times where all the different actions have messed me up and I end up using Zone Speed instead of my special shot and that has costed me a few points. Content wise, the game is full of it; from all the options in free play to the adventure mode to the online free plays to both online and single player tournaments, there's a lot to do and that's the huge plus from Ultra Smash. The character roster is also solid and we know of clear plans to release more characters over time via online tournaments. The courts are also amazing in both theme, hazards and music. All the courts are bursting with charm and I love it. The game's adventure mode is also solid, if not a bit repetitive and somewhat lazy. While the challenges are there, this adventure mode clearly looks like they wanted the gameplay to come first and not the story. In fact, the entire story is pretty much wrapped up in the opening (and pretty much only) cutscene; every detail you need to know is there and it's not truly touched on until the fourth area of the game. It's still a nice experience regardless, but I felt it could've been a lot more. While the game is great on gameplay and content, I do have a few problems with it. The Special shots, while nice to look at and pretty cool, are in short just glorified ultra smashes, which in of themselves are just glorified flat shots. It's not really new or creative, just flashy and challenging, which is a fifty-fifty on my end. But most importantly, even if you have so many options for single play, the game seems to have taken it upon itself to make the choices for you. Yes you can choose to play with or without the new gimmicks and you can choose things like singles or doubles or turning gyro controls off, you can't choose your game length, you can't manually select your own court and you can't choose many CPUs for doubles. Instead, the free play games are always one set long and the courts are selected at random, you can only choose which courts appear. It feels like the game is trying too hard to just get you into the action fast and while that would be okay for online play, it's definitely not okay for casual single player play. That being said, it feels like I'm being discouraged from playing alone, which is something I personally do a lot. Online is great and all and the way they handle it is great, but I'm more of a single player kinda guy. Throw in the flaws of the story mode and this game is not really friendly to single player play. Overall, Mario Tennis Aces is a huge step up from Ultra Smash and Open before it. While it still falls short of Mario Power Tennis on the GameCube, that's still a high bar to jump. But for what it is, Mario Tennis Aces is definitely a good tennis game and if you have a group of friends who enjoy rounds of tennis, this is the perfect game for you. If you like a casual, single player experience, well it may be more worth it to go back to Power Tennis or even Open.

Kirby Planet Robobot follows very closely to Triple Deluxe and many parallels can be drawn between the two games. Planet Robobot takes on a similar visual style and we see the return of the duel plain level layout that Triple Deluxe had. But while Planet Robobot takes a lot from Triple Deluxe, it also throws in a few new ideas. The biggest one being the new Robobot Armor that Kirby can ride, which essentially replaces the Hypernova from Triple Deluxe. The Robobot Armor is capable of heavy damage on both enemies and even the environment in some cases and can also copy certain abilities of enemies. And I think it's an awesome feature. On top of normal puzzle rooms that the Kirby series is good with, the Robobot Armor opens up new ideas for new puzzles. However the Robobot Armor can only have a certain amount of abilities and they aren't as diverse as Kirby with said powers, but they are capable of solving unique puzzles. On the topic of copy abilities, the line up in this game is really great, mixing in the series staples such as Fire, Ice, Sword and Beam, adding in new ones such as ESP, Doctor and Poison and reviving some old abilities not seen in a long time, such as Jet, a revamped Smash ability and my personal second favorite of all time, Mirror. The world themes were pretty awesome as well and the added robotic appearance each world had made the areas look really nice. While the main game won't take that long (if you're really dedicated to it), the amount of stuff to do afterwards still makes up for it. The game still isn't that hard either, but the Kirby gameplay itself more than makes up for it in my opinion. So overall, I really loved this game. While generally easy, it's still a fantastic Kirby game with an awesome new feature, an amazing set of copy abilities and classic fun stuff to do when the story is all said and done.

Pokemon Sun and Moon were amazing games, something that my original review for them did not specify well enough. After time with the original games, my opinions have vastly changed and I see Sun and Moon as amazing games. Let my review on Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon be the real deal when it comes to the seventh generation Pokemon games. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon differ slightly in their stories. Initially, it seems relatively the same, with a few new scenes appearing here and there, few new small details in some of the trials, stuff like that. However, once you reach the end of the third island, that's where things start to change. Everything leading up to the game's climax is what separates Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon from Sun/Moon. While I won't spoil anything, the games' altered storyline is like a "what if something happened differently" type of story; the characters develop and act in different, yet similar ways to Sun and Moon, which I greatly appreciate. I never truly got into depth on how much I loved Sun and Moon's story and characters, with the characters developing much better than past generations have in my eyes. The story's climax once again held my attention with the ever fascinating Ultra Beasts. A lot of my original gripes with Sun and Moon are mostly gone at this point, with SOS battles posing as a little problem now, the additional location evolution areas for certain Pokemon being a good add for people looking to use Vikavolt or Magnezone and Z-Moves becoming more interesting (though still lacking compared to Mega Evolutions). The additional content these games offer makes them easier to play for longer, especially the legendaries to catch and the amazing post story involving Team Rainbow Rocket. Said post story was amazing, giving fans from all over the generations throwbacks they'll recognize and enjoy. The difficulty was well paced within the entire game as well, which is also appreciated. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are definitely the definitive games for generation seven. Expanding greatly on Sun and Moon's content and fixing a few of Sun and Moon's problems made them better than their originals, yet also letting the originals hold a few details that were better (in my personal case, Lusamine's portrayal as a villain). Overall, these are definitely games any Pokemon fan should pick up, even if they already played the original Sun and Moon.

Mario Party: The Top 100 is probably one of the biggest double edged sword games in recent times for me. Every pro has an equal con. But in the end, I will say that my nostalgia won with this game and I'm rightfully giving it the eight out of ten. Time to dive into this party and see what it's got; I'm going to start with the pros first and the biggest one is just the concept. One hundred mini-games from the past home console installments is already one of the best ideas you could do with a franchise this big. As a person who has played Mario Party since the very beginning, I've lived to see the release of every installment in the franchise and while I still play Mario Parties 1-8 on a regular basis, seeing all my favorite mini-games return was the biggest nostalgic kick I've felt in a long time and I loved every moment of it. Mario Party's Face Lift, Mario Party 3's Bounce 'n' Trounce, ESPECIALLY Mario Party 2's Bowser's Big Blast, seeing all my favorite N64 and GCN games return was amazing. And what amazes me more is that of all the 100 mini-games, I didn't dislike a single one. Granted that may be because I never disliked any mini-games to begin with, but there were none that I originally felt to be long and somewhat boring to constantly play. If I wanted to throw any slight complaint, it would be the lack of mini-games from Mario Party 8, which only had 3 in the game. The game modes were pretty good too, with some being callbacks to modes from previous games. The Mini-Game Island mode is the game's main single player campaign, which is a callback to Mario Party 1's Mini-Game Island and, to an extent, Mario Party 2's Mini-Game Coaster. And playing through all 100 mini-games was a blast, I enjoyed it all. Decathalon I believe originated from Mario Party 5, which also returns in this game, where you score based on how well you did in score based mini-games. The Balloon Bash mode returns from Star Rush and again tries to be the replacement for the original gameplay. While it does take the concept one small step further to the original gameplay, it's still flawed in some ways and still a few steps short of achieving it. I don't mind it though, it's still better than 9, 10 and Island Tour's gameplay. Now here comes my personal painful part; listing the problems I had with this great idea. To get the obvious point out, I still HEAVILY prefer the original gameplay seen in Mario Parties 1-8 and DS. Trying to use the Balloon Bash as a replacement does no justice. And with Balloon Bash only having 1 board and limits the mini-games that can appear, it's not going to hold attention for very long. I've seen many people who are in the same boat; wishing Nintendo would stop messing around with gimmicks and just return to the original gameplay. So much like the Paper Mario series, I see this as Nintendo flat out ignoring any and all feedback to yet another game series and continuing on a self made path that they refuse to steer away from. Then there's the elephant in the room; the system. While I love the 3DS and I'm more than capable of playing just about any game on my own with no problems, this is a game I WISH I could play with friends more than I could play alone. Mario Party has always been a franchise that prides itself on multiplayer competition and home consoles satisfy multiplayer better than handhelds. Since the first handheld, they have always been geared towards single player action. Link Cables and Wireless Communication won't change that handhelds are not designed to be multiplayer heavy. For once, I agree with those who said this should've been on the Switch. I won't complain too much that it's on the 3DS, but for a game that compiles 100 mini-games from the past, something my brother, some of my friends and I are familiar with, playing it as a group on the big TV would've been WAY better than a handheld. In the end, Mario Party: The Top 100 is one of the best ideas for the series, but the choices Nintendo made with it unfortunately caused it to become another one of Mario's biggest missed opportunities in recent times, following the wasted potential of Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. One hundred mini-games from the past is an amazing idea that was used as an attempt to keep the 3DS alive in the face of the Switch. Nintendo,I'd buy this game again, but all you gotta do is port this game to the Switch and add in the classic gameplay. I'm pretty sure that's how most your fans would rather be partying with the former plumber.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

No beating around the bush, A Hat in Time is an adorable and charming game. Based around classic 3D platformers from the N64 era, A Hat in Time has you play as the adorable Hat Kid, a young girl who makes use of different hats with different abilities, who is searching several worlds for her Time Pieces in order to see her way home. The overall plot may feel simplistic, but each individual world feels like their own little story of their own. From fighting off the mafia in a shady looking town to helping two birds fight for a movie award, the game has a lot of charm in it's worlds. And the worlds, for the most part, aren't small and feature lots to do within each act. They are jam packed with places to explore, characters to interact with and time pieces to find. In a sense, the game's progression feels similar to Super Mario Sunshine, where each act puts you on a path to a set time piece, but the open world gives you lots of freedom to explore and there aren't many limits in each act, which is nice. Another aspect I enjoyed a lot was the characters. Despite there being a few notable stand-outs, they were easy to love. From the goofy mafia to the disco penguin DJ Grooves to the Hat Kid herself, I found the cast to be overly charming. Even the standard NPC characters had some witty bits of dialogue and I always respect that. However, there is one thing I felt was wrong with this game and that was the length. With there only being a total of 40 Time Pieces and about 5 worlds to explore, the game doesn't take long to beat. While getting all 40 Time Pieces is still on my to-do list while I'm writing this, reaching the final boss doesn't take long. Maybe the game will release more content over time, which I hope it does because this is one charming game I'd love to play more of. In the end, A Hat in Time is just choked full of charm and character. I loved every minute of it, no doubt. The length is about all I can talk down on, but that is hidden behind a lovable cast, detailed and creative worlds, clean controls and a load of easy to use abilities that make the game feel so great. Here's hoping the game will get an expansion, but in the mean time, I'll enjoy what I have; a charming and adorable 3D platformer.

Super Mario Odyssey is likely meant to be Mario's version of Breath of the Wild, with it being a big game with lots to do. And I'm not going to beat around the bush; Super Mario Odyssey was amazing. While I'm giving it a ten out of ten, I'm not going to say it's perfect; as my only gripe with the game is that the plot is way too short and kinda easy to tackle. But while the plot is short and simple, that is merely the door to the game itself, which is collecting a grand total of 600 Power Moons. I feel like the game's story was downplayed for a reason; to emphasis on the exploration aspect and Moon collecting. And while I still have many Power Moons to collect, I don't need to one hundred percent this game to say that it was fantastic all the way. The capture mechanic the game takes on opens up a ton of new options for Mario to progress through worlds. From smashing blocks as a Hammer Bro to swimming through magma as a Lava Bubble to collecting a tower of Goombas to meet a female Goomba, Mario has more options than ever. It's a really cool feature, even if it does feel a bit overpowered at times. The worlds are plentiful, rivaling that of Super Mario 64 and easily suppressing the game in terms of collectables for each world. While it feels like the game simply hands you Power Moons for the simplest of tasks, you have to get used to the patterns of where they appear. That means ground pounding almost everything, throwing you cap at anything and breaking anything. Moons can literally be anywhere and that's where the challenge aspect comes in; some Moons won't be easy to find. While it may just feel like an enormous version of Super Mario Galaxy 2's Green Star challenge, if you love exploring worlds and discovering these kinds of secrets, it'll keep you busy for a long time and if you enjoy it, there's no problems in it, is there? Looking past the game's short story, Super Mario Odyssey really lives up to the hype it had. While it may not truly feel like the nostalgic Super Mario 64, it still does a good job at following in it's footsteps. The worlds are fun to explore, the capture mechanic makes it even more fun to explore and the amount of Power Moons means this isn't a game you'll one hundred percent in a day. But if you like a game that big, then this is definitely going to be a fun experience. Mario hit the Switch in a big way and this will likely go down as one of his best adventures yet.

Sonic Mania is meant to be a throwback to the classic, 16-bit Sonic games of the 90s and boy did it do them justice. Sonic Mania is an amazing game that does a great job of mixing the old with the new. New zones mixed in with some memorable zones from the old games made this an awesome experience. New stages like Studiopolis and Press Garden were beautiful looking stages with cool references while returning stages like Chemical Plant and Hydrocity were really awesome retro throwbacks with new twists. On top of all the stages, the game's difficulty was fair too; it was easy when it wanted to be easy and challenging when the time called for it. Sonic Mania is a really awesome game and the game Sonic really needed after his last few adventures. Any fan of Sonic, old or new, should definitely try it out.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga back on the Gameboy Advance was an amazing game and the start of an amazing series. Featuring a charming cast of characters and a well thought out plot, the game was pretty stellar for it's time. However, it was plagued by messy overworld controls that sometimes came off as confusing and frustrating. Now, fourteen years later, the superstars return to the saga's start with updated visuals and, best of all, updated controls. So how does this remake stack to the original? Well the answer to that question is a matter of opinion, but to me, the remake was simply amazing. The updated visuals were one of the key things I loved about the game, taking Dream Team's sprite work and giving it a slight upgrade. While the sprites themselves are simply reused, the sprites are now affected by the lighting of the world around them, making them look much more visually appealing. Simply put, the game looked gorgeous. Some people say that the use of Dream Team's art style takes away from the original game. I personally disagree and think the game retains just as much charm as the original did. However, the one thing that I have to give the most credit to was the controls. Fixing the problem the original had, swapping through Mario and Luigi's large amount of individual abilities was made much easier in this game compared to the original. Each action has it's own icon and selecting the action is as simple as pressing the L or R buttons. Cycling through them may take a bit of time, but it's much better than swapping the brother's positions, then cycling through their individual abilities from there. On top of that, the game features the gameplay additions seen in later titles, such as two jumps on enemies when using the jump command and the fact that Mario and Luigi don't drop their hammers when counterattacking. And with these easier additions, enemies do gain a bit of a stat boost to even it out, so it doesn't make the game feel any easier or harder than the original. I do have one problem with this game. While I respect the fact that the game's main content remained unchanged, it was the lack of any true additions (outside of the Minion Quest, which I'll cover in a second), that surprised me. The biggest surprise was the fact that they didn't add a Battle Ring esque area featured in Bowser's Inside Story, Dream Team and Paper Jam. It was something I would've loved to look forward to and would've been an easy and fitting addition. However, nothing of the such was added and that's pretty much my only disappointment. Now, onto the Minion Quest, the game's new mode. A story that takes place during Mario and Luigi's own adventure, this story is about Bowser's scattered minions and their search for their missing king. The story stars a enthusiastic, yet bumbling Goomba who is more than eager to find King Bowser. He is aided by three more captains; a Shy Guy, a Boo and a Koopa Troopa. Their overall goal is to recruit Bowser's brainwashed minions and save Bowser himself. The overall story is essentially what pushes me to play this mode. The gameplay itself is nothing too spectacular. Players create a team of 8 minions to fight against hoards of other enemies. There are three types of minions; melee units, ranged units and flying units and each play a part of a rock-paper-scissors styled triangle. Melee units are strong against ranged units, ranged against flying and flying against melee. Setting up a proper squad to best counter the enemy units is where the strategy comes in. Once in a battle, however, the player does very little to control the action. Captain Commands can influence the battle and give you a boost in various areas, but that's about it. Still, despite the little player interaction, the mode isn't that bad and I appreciate it for the story and wide cast of characters you can recruit. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions is indeed a faithful retelling of the original GBA masterpiece. While I'm disappointed in the lack of additional content, both the main story and the Minion Quest are enough to keep me satisfied. It's a solid remake that proves that Alpha Dream still has it when it comes to making us laugh with their charming cast of characters.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Miitopia was not a game I expected to enjoy as much as I did, let alone get it. But the idea to try it came out of nowhere and after trying the demo, I bought the game on impulse. And like I said, I really enjoyed it, for what it was. Miitopia is an role playing styled game starring Nintendo's own avatar, the Miis. You create your own team of Miis based on those you made or others have made and set out on a journey to rescue the stolen faces of others. The game itself already has a strange concept, but the game itself is oddly addicting. The game has you explore a huge world map, playing through automatic scrolling levels that hold enemy battles, treasure and other events. Each path has set events that will happen. When you enter a battle, your team of four engages the enemy in a typical rpg styled battle. Thing is, you only have control over the Mii you created first to start the game. All your friends are computer controlled. While this does make keeping track of who you play as much simpler, it's a bit boring to only be able to essentially play as one character in the game. On the topic of the Miis, I find that this game handled them very well compared to other games. Each Mii you create for your team can have a job, which dictates what skills, weapons and cloths they can use. On top of that, they can have one of seven personalities, which adds a few more abilities to their list. Their interactions with each other are another interesting concept. Your teammates can build relations with each other to unlock more skills they can use with each other, such as aiding in attacks, taking hits for each other to avenging fallen teammates. And their interactions with each other in odd events here and there are more entertaining than you'd expect. I cracked more than enough smiles while watching them, which is something I didn't expect to do as much as I did. In the end, Miitopia is a surprisingly good game that I could easily compare to the Miis themselves; it's goofy, strange and hard to take seriously, but that's what makes it such a charming experience. While the rpg elements weren't played out in a fully fleshed out way, they weren't terrible for the most part. The story was strange, yet interesting and the way the Miis went about their adventure was charming and entertaining. If Nintendo were to put more effort into the rpg elements, such as full on, player controlled exploring and full control over the whole party, I'd actually be excited to see a sequel. In the meantime, Miitopia is another charming 3DS title that just shows Nintendo's light hearted and goofy side to them.

Long time fans of Fire Emblem are no doubt aware that the series started primarily in Japan and didn't see a western release in any game until the Gameboy Advance era. With Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade being the first localized title, it still left a lot of Japan exclusive titles. Fire Emblem's first title did see a localized remake on the DS, but that still left a lot of unlocalized games. Thankfully, it wasn't the first and last as the second game in the series, Fire Emblem Gaiden, saw a remake in the form of Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. The only time I heard of this game was in Smash Bros. Brawl/Wii U through a few songs, so I went into this game without any knowledge on how it would play. To get right to the point, I was really glad about that, cause this game was amazing. The story centers around two characters; Alm and Celica. Alm was raised in a small village in Zofia while Celica has moved from a few places during her childhood. I won't get into too much story details, as I don't want to spoil anything, but I can easily say that the plot was great. While it was slow and the map progression made it tough to tell when important story bits would turn up. Unlike the previous 3DS FIre Emblem titles, which displayed story bits at every chapter, you could go a few battles without seeing anything relating to the story happen before or after. It did make me more motivated to play through the story, as I love to see what happened next. Despite the slow start, the climax of the game, happening in the fifth act, was spectacular, with everything coming together in a brilliant way. I personally felt several emotions run at me all at once as I played through the fifth act and I enjoyed every moment of it. Gameplay wise, the game has you follow two different routes; one following Alm and the other with Celica. Both routes have their own set of characters to use and different maps to play. Dungeon exploring is another key element in the game and I'm a bit mixed on that. The dungeons were fun to explore, especially when it came to finding hidden routes to treasures, but like other rpg titles, enemy encounters sometimes got annoying when I just wanted to progress. It's nothing I'd use to degrade the experience however, as it's just how rpgs go. Now to get on to another aspect of the game I loved: the characters. I've played a few games in the series, but I've only finished Awakening and Fates. But I loved the characters in both games. Echoes, I can safely say, was no different. It offered another amazing roster of characters I grew to enjoy very quickly. Alm's friends were amongst some of my favorites, alongside the likes of Valbar, Leon and Kamui and others such as Forsythe, Lukas and Python. They were a great cast of characters, even if their interactions were more limited compared to Awakening and Fates, due to the limited supports each character could have. New characters not present in the original game were also amazing, with Berkut being one of my favorite villians in the series. The game also featured full on voice acting for just about every bit of dialogue in the game and it sounded amazing. The voices were great at projecting the emotions the game's scenes were presenting, with the notable and my all time favorite ones being Alm and Berkut. All in all, the game was amazing, with a great story, great characters, amazing presentation and visuals and great voice acting. As someone who never played Gaiden in any form, it was awesome to play through and, while I don't know how the original game played, I thought the additions this remake had were just as good. If you're a series fan, this is definitely a game to pick up.

A lot of my positive feedback for this game is carried over from the original Mario Kart 8: a slew of amazing tracks, both old and new, superb gameplay, great dlc and loads of multiplayer fun. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe adds a bit more to the table, being 5 new characters, 3 returning favorites and the Inklings from Splatoon, some new kart parts and, of course, the revamped battle mode, which is a great addition to the multiplayer madness Mario Kart is known for. However, despite the praise I give these additions, I can still see flaws. While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe fixed a few problems (mainly the double item holding that was absent in the original), it still holds a few problems that Mario Kart 8 had. The lack of invincibility frames when getting hit by an item can come off as incredibly annoying and opens up item spam from both players and CPUs. This is an incredibly frustrating thing, especially for someone who likes to relax with the game. And, despite the amazing additions, I still believe these were things that should've been in Mario Kart 8 to begin with and really didn't need an 80 dollar port to achieve them. Regardless, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the definitive version of Mario Kart 8 to own. If you never had the original, then this is a must have for the switch, including everything you would've had and more. If you already had the Wii U version, you may feel a slight hint of being ripped off, but if you're also a dedicated fan, then it's something you can likely overlook, especially for something that's fun to play with a group of people.

Fire Emblem Heroes passes as a mobile game. It obviously won't compete with the core games on actual systems, but it passes for a small mobile title. It's got many of the key elements, just scaled down to a fit the mobile style. But what I love most about the game is all the characters available. Even though they're currently spread between a few games, I'm sure it'll get better as more characters are released. I feel this is a great way to get people familiar with characters who were in games never released outside of Japan (specifically The Binding Blade). I love all the character options and the method of getting them, Summoning, is pretty fun too. I will say that the idea of getting doubles annoys me, especially since it happens to me a lot, but I won't use that to fully degrade the idea. Summoning is still fun. The gameplay is a simplistic version of the regular gameplay of the console titles, just smaller and simpler. Up to four units per team and compressed maps resembling notable maps from across the franchise. It's a really great concept. I think Fire Emblem Heroes is a great mobile title and will get better as more features and characters are added.

The original was straight up amazing, the same can be said here. While the port offers little for the main mode, it offers much more in side modes; such as the Poochy levels, additional amiibo support, 31 animated shorts and the ability to create your own Yoshi designs. While it seems like little details that could've (and probably should've) been in the Wii U version, those little details are what makes the 3DS version just as good as the Wii U version. All the Wii U's content is present, making it a packed game with more to enjoy. Of course, the graphics can't compare to the Wii U version, but if you're the type of person who cares more about a game's content over it's looks, then this is easily a must have for the 3DS and even worth the second time around if you've already played the Wii U version.

Despite the complaints people have about the lack of online sharing this game has, such thing doesn't affect me at all, which is why I thoroughly enjoy this game. To me, Mario Maker for the 3DS is a way to build levels on the go and if I like the level enough, I'll just recreate it in the Wii U version and upload it from there. I see this game as an expansion to creativity, not something that holds it back. The way to unlock things is also much better compared to the Wii U version; instead of a week wait, you can get things through playing the game's pre-built courses, which works fine with me. While the loss of the Mystery Mushroom is a downside to me, it's nothing to huge. Overall, while I agree that the port is not going to suppress the Wii U version any time soon, the game is still amazing in its own right. Make on the go, remake at home if you want that level online. Both versions compliment each other, but if you're overly satisfied with the Wii U version and don't feel the need for the 3DS version, that's fine too.

Pokémon Sun/Moon are an interesting take on the main series of Pokémon, taking a break from challenging 8 gym leaders in favor of Island Trials. It definitely fits the Hawaii theme that the game has going on and I think it's pretty cool. The games themselves are really good, making the long, hyped wait well worth it. The new Pokémon introduced maintain a level of creativity in their designs, types and abilities, in my opinion. A few new and incredibly useful features introduced include the removal of HMs in exchange for the Poke Pager, a device that calls specific Pokémon to fill in the place of the missing HMs. Incredibly helpful and relieves you of forcing yourself to have a water or flying type just for Surf, Waterfall and Fly or a completely different Pokémon all together for the rarely used Strength or Rock Smash. Another addition is the Poké Refresh, which replaces the Poké-Amie from the previous generation. The repetitive mini games are gone and instead, you can just pet and feed your Pokémon. Simple enough. You can also clean it after battle and, best of all, restore the Pokémon of any status condition it may have gained from the battle, effectively eliminating the need for a few status restoring items. You can also check stat alterations in the battle itself as well as the game telling you which moves are effective against the Pokémon you're up against, making it incredibly helpful for new players. The game's locations are quite nice as well, perfectly fitting in with the game's theme and the many characters are filled with personality, many of which really make you wonder what their backstories are. The Battle Royal idea is a cool thing as well. I've seen some YouTubers do free for all battles in gen 6 games and this idea seems to take that idea and make it official. The only complaint is how the battles end when one person loses all their Pokémon. However, despite how much I'm enjoying the games, there are a few flaws. While I don't mind the change in Island Trials, the Totem Pokémon battles are incredibly irritating, mainly due to the introduction of wild Pokémon being able to call for help. Not only does this stack the odds against you, but it makes catching wild Pokémon a hassle and facing the Totem Pokémon almost one sided against you. I don't mind the Island Trials idea, but I still much prefer gym battles. Another big thing is how uncommon or hard to get the new Pokémon are. If they don't have a five percent chance of finding in the wild, the either evolve in a specific place more than halfway through the game. I love the idea of Alolan forms, a change in type for past Pokémon makes them more interesting to use, but the variety is low and limited to generation 1 Pokémon, which I'm not huge on. There is also a hefty amount of Pokémon missing from the game, meaning you must transfer to get them. Z-Moves are also a new introduction to the game, but I barely see use in them. I feel they were meant to compare/compete with the Mega Evolution idea, but in my eyes, I just don't see use in them. Trainer customization returns, but it's incredibly dull compared to X & Y. Overall, Sun and Moon were definitely worth the wait. Various fixes made playing the games much easier and the new ideas are, in my opinion, not bad. The new Pokémon are amazing and creative and the game's story is interesting so far, as it is filled with amazing characters. However there are those various flaws that are easy to complain about and they can be pretty glaring at times. But get passed those and your looking at pretty great games. The change of pace wasn't a bad idea, but it's not one I hope to see become the new normal.

Mario Party: Star Rush is a step in the right direction for the Mario Party series, but still a few steps short of achieving it. The game offers many different game modes to play, many of which are rather fun to play. The Toad Scramble mode is an interesting twist to the series and isn't all that bad really of a mode, though it has it's cons. While the idea of collecting stars has finally returned to the series, Toad Scramble goes through a different method of obtaining them, this time being through the boss mini games seen in the past few installments. It isn't a bad thing, but I still prefer the board hunt method of the first 8 games. On top of that, Toad Scramble doesn't offer much in terms of excitement really. There are little to no board events, which makes traversing the board simplistic and boring, with nothing holding you back from getting to your destination. Everyone taking their turn at once does make the game go faster, but it does have a few issues, such as deciding who gets a Coin Balloon if two players pass it at the same time. Other modes I've tried include the Balloon Bash mode, which I think is the best mode in the game. It's the closest gameplay to the original style, with players moving around a board to collect stars. The rules are a bit different and stars are not only easy to obtain due to the small boards, but also plentiful, as you can gain up to three stars at once at half the original star price. On top of that, collecting a Coin Balloon will always result in a mini game and the fact that the balloons are common means you'll likely play a mini game after each turn, which further feels like the original gameplay. It's not perfect, but it's close enough and that works for me at this point. While I haven't played much outside those two modes, I can say that Mario Party: Star Rush is better than 9, 10 and Island Tour combined. It hasn't quite reached the height of Mario Parties 1-8 or DS or even Advance (yes, I loved that game), but it's good in it's own sense. A step in the right direction, even if it's a little by little process. Not the best, but not terrible, I'd recommend it for those who don't mind a bit of mindless, single player fun.

I went into this game thinking it'd be like a 5 out of 10 based on all the footage I've seen since E3. Now that I've played it, I can safely say I was wrong. Feels more like a 4 out of 10 once I was actually in the game. So let me get into my thoughts. I guess I should start with the positives; the most glaring positive point here is those outstanding graphics. Like wow, it looks amazing. The worlds are so vibrant in their looks and Nintendo took the "everything is made of paper" idea and kicked it into high gear. The worlds look amazing and the art style is fantastic. It's really something nice. I know there are people out there who think the paper style take away from the charm of Paper Mario, but I disagree. I think it looks great. And it's nice to see that the locations are actually unique this time around, unlike the bland world themes seen in both Sticker Star and Paper Jam. Another thing the game does great is the dialogue. The writing in this game is also great; it's legit funny at times. There are even some points in the game where you're likely going to think to yourselves "Nintendo actually approved of this writing?" And I say that in a good way too. The soundtrack is pretty decent too, no hate, but no real love for it in my eyes or ears. So yeah, amazing visuals and outstanding dialogue are the tops of this game. Yeah, the visuals and the writing are about the only things I can really praise here, cause I'm not fond of a lot of the elements about this game. Let me summarize it simply; it is way to similar to Sticker Star and I honestly hated that game. So making a sequel to a game I hate is already going to get bad thoughts brewing. And it really doesn't help that almost every problem Sticker Star had returns in this game too. The gameplay is still overly flawed. Inventory based gameplay that forces you to waste potential attacks on enemies that can be killed with even the weakest of cards. You are still forced to attack the first enemy in the line, meaning you can't take out attack heavy threats waiting behind without taking the tiny meat shields in front out first. The enemies themselves are still the most genetic enemies we've seen in any mainstream game. The bosses are once again "roam around, find the thing card you need and win the battle", only it's made worse in this game as they're flat out required to have and if you don't, the battle is impossible to win. And the NPCs are still just Toads. Risa said in an interview that they all have unique personalities, but that really isn't the point; all Toads is still boring. A "level up" system was added to make it seem like battles weren't pointless, except that they are still pointless. The game's level up system is hammer scraps which lets you hold more paint. Except you're rarely going to run out of paint and in order to get more paint, all you have to do is hit trees, flowers or stuff like that to get more. Or defeat enemies to get more paint needed to defeat more enemies. It's the same, pointless and endless cycle that Sticker Star had. Let me compare this problem to a broken screwdriver. The handle is completely snapped off; you can tape it back together and make it look fixed, but realistically it's still broken. That's exactly what this level up system is; it supposed to make it seem like battles are worth it, but they still aren't. The story is still bare bones and unimaginative, with Bowser being the main villain and kidnapping Peach. There are a few twists to it, but at the core, it's still the same deal. The first game can get away with it, but not so much the fifth game. In the end, Color Splash's graphics and writing are it's prized features, but the fact that it's too close to Sticker Star bogs it down so much that I can't even give it a 5 out of 10. The combat system is still flawed, there are still no unique characters in the game and every problem they "fixed" was not actually fixed, just covered up to convince us that they were fixed. If you liked Sticker Star, no doubt this game will suit you, but for anyone who's just starting the series, here's my advice: play the first three games first; you can get both Paper Mario 64 and Super Paper Mario on the Wii U eShop for cheaper than this game and you'll get a better experience for it. In the mean time, I honestly hope that Nintendo stops goofing around with Paper Mario and returns it to the RPG roots everyone wants. Risa still said they'd consider a TTYD remaster if fans wanted it enough, now it's time to see if she's telling the truth or just lying because interviews were there. All we can do is wait.

The Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series has been a pretty decent series over all. Nothing to truly write home about, but they're satisfying in many ways. The latest entry in the series is no different. Offering a variety of events to play and a good cast of Mario & Sonic characters to play as. As with the 3DS version, I'm really glad they added new characters to the mix, but limiting them to one event each was a huge bummer to me. I also personally liked the Dream Events MUCH more than the Duel Events and the fact that the game only has 3 Duel Events anyway was a bit of a disappointment as well. However the game is still what I expect from the series; it's a decent game that offers lots to unlock and collect, some great remixed songs and some pretty nice visuals to boot. Overall, this game is pretty good. It's nothing more and nothing less.

In my opinion, the best Mario game there is. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is one of the few Mario games I view as flawless. This could just be my nostalgia talking, but I honestly don't care. I love this game so much. The story is captivating and memorable, the characters are filled with personality, the gameplay takes every problem Paper Mario had and fixes them, I don't know if there's anything bad I can say about this game. The story has Mario traveling to a place called Rogueport and has him adventuring around it's surrounding areas searching for objects called the Crystal Stars. Along the way, he meets a many partner characters who fight alongside him and a wide cast of lovable characters. The gameplay is top notch and easy to get the hang of, especially for those who played the first Paper Mario. The game also features lots to do, even after the game is beaten, granted your the kind of person who doesn't mind searching for badges, creating recipe items or enduring the Pit of 100 Trials. It may be incredibly late to give a review on this game, but Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is stellar in every way and even if it's really hard to find now a days, I'd still gladly recommend it over Sticker Star and likely Color Splash, games they're trying to pass off as Paper Mario.

The game itself isn't bad, but it's not a stellar one either. For every thing done right, another thing is done wrong. Being the first game since the first Winter Olympics game to introduce new characters, the cast of playable characters is great. However a set group of characters are limited to certain events, with each returning character only being playable in two events each (except Mario and Sonic) while every new character is only playable in one event each (except the Mii). The story mode is easy to play and is pretty okay to play through, but it is pretty short and most of the time it feels like you aren't progressing through a plot, it feels like your just there to play events. It makes you forget that there even is a plot going on sometimes. Overall, I would say that this game is pretty much just like the other handheld installments; it's not the greatest game out there, but it is playable and can be enjoyable at times.

The third route, Revelations, fits perfectly with Birthright and Conquest and does it's job of telling the true story of Fates. Wrapping up mysteries not solved in the other two versions. Bringing together the entire cast of characters and seeing certain Hoshido and Nohr characters interacting is one of my favorite parts of the game and it's made better by the infinite opportunities to build supports and train your units. The story is just as compelling as the other two versions and almost does the best job at **** you in, as I've found myself losing track of time while playing through the story to learn the mysteries each chapter offers. All in all, I'm gonna say Revelations is my favorite route of the three and does a great job of telling the whole story of the games.

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is the game that plays more alike to Awakening in the sense that you get unlimited opportunities to train and build support conversations, which is something I truly enjoy doing. The gameplay is solid and the music is amazing. I feel Birthright's storyline has more twists and surprises than Conquest's did, but I still loved both storylines. The cast of characters in this game was just as good as Conquests, but neither of them can match my enjoyment for Awakening's cast. Overall, I liked Birthright a bit more due to being a bit easier to live up to the challenge the game has.

Between Birthright and Conquest, it's clear that Conquest would challenge you and it certainly did for me. I started playing Fire Emblem with Awakening so I was used to having free opportunities to train my units and build support conversations so it made this game much trickier. I'll admit, I do like being a bit more free in what I do, but I can respect the path they chose to take this game down. However I'm not going to say I was huge on not giving training opportunities. I appreciated the game's level of difficulty, but I still would've like some opportunities to train so I can better prepare for the challenges set before me. But that aside, the game's story and characters were great in their own sense. The story didn't have as many twists as Birthright did, but the twists it did have were brilliant. Overall, I very much enjoyed Conquest and even though I liked Birthright more, Conquest is a great game for anyone interested in a challenging strategy RPG.

I can't stress enough how much I love this game. Almost everything about it is amazing; it's storyline, it's gameplay, it's memorable features, but none so more than it's cast of characters. They are an easy to love group that I grew attached to very quickly. And it's even better when going through the various support conversations they can have. As Awakening was the first Fire Emblem games I've played, I can easily say it's friendly to first timers, with the returning casual mode. While it is true that for a first timer, many of the features did confuse me, such as weapon ranks and such, you learn quickly. And with that being said, the game's way of teaching these things is simple and effective, as it shows you various lessons on the bottom screen when the topic is first seen, thus allowing the player to proceed with the task on their own without the game stopping them to learn it. As for the storyline, it was amazing and full of twists and memorable moments. I can't deny that Fire Emblem Awakening is one of my favorite games for the Nintendo 3DS and I would highly recommend it to any first timers to the series who are interested in giving the series a shot.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was just as I expected it to be; rich in gameplay, but paper flat in story and character. Covering the positives first, the battle system is great as it usually is. The addition of Paper Mario means you need to pay extra attention to enemy attacks and you need to stay alert at all times to ensure all three characters stay alive. Paper Mario’s unique jumping counter attack is very useful, but at the same time can cause some slip ups in timing when combined with the other two Bros. It's a level of challenge that I greatly respect. The special attacks are great as well, adding in a few new ones to the mix of a few returning, which strikes perfect balance. The enemies themselves are a bit of a mix, but the positive thing is that they’re attack patterns make for excellent and challenging battles. Some great examples are the paper enemies and their real world counterparts and how it’s interesting how the real world enemies use their paper forms for attacks. The boss battles are incredibly challenging and very fun to play through, with almost everyone being unique and challenging. Even the two giant Pokeys, who are hands down the most unimaginative bosses, have such a stellar battle. While the bosses themselves follow in the same path as the enemies where they’re all just characters we’ve seen in main games, they are for the most part interesting choices, especially ones like Petey Piranha, King Bob-omb, King Boo and the Koopalings, who I’m actually kinda glad to see return and get actual dialogue. The interactions between the real world and paper world characters is humorous, which ties in with the game retaining a charming sense of witty dialogue, which is always appreciated in a Mario & Luigi game. However the game isn't perfect. With Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario being two of the most creative series in the whole Mario universe (minus Paper Mario: Sticker Star), it was a complete bust to see none of that creativity return, instead giving us generic enemies and locations we’ve seen before. The lack of creativity in those areas really bogs it down and gives a stale feeling to the game, despite the stellar gameplay. The characters is a huge thing, as they’re all just a bunch of generic Toads and they all come off as annoying due to their constant panicking and nonstop fear of everything. I know that’s how Toads are, but they took it way overboard in this game. But don’t think I’m criticizing the Toad’s behavior for no reason; the fact they’re like this leads to some tedious and annoying Toad chases where you have to hunt down Paper Toads. It happens so frequently that it just feels like filler. The storyline is another huge flaw in this game, as it’s just another Bowser kidnaps Peach, Mario beats Bowser deal, just with an extra Bowser and Mario. And using Paper Mario: Sticker Star as the base inspiration for all the enemies was a terrible idea as well, as Sticker Star is easily the weakest game in the Paper Mario series. So really, it’s only the gameplay that lives up to the series standards. The chase scenes with Nabbit and Paper Toads just feel like filler to make up for the lack of story and to make the game feel longer, when really the storyline is short and unimaginative with a few “get these characters” shoved into it. So overall I’ll give the gameplay praise for what it is and I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the game, cause I did. It had charming and humorous moments that I greatly appreciate and a challenge factor that keeps the battles fun. But because the Mario team took two of the most stellar sub series there are and thinned it down to mainstream material makes the game look stale and unimpressive. So all in all, the game isn’t terrible and it’s still a solid entry to the series that no fan should miss, but long time fans may be disappointed by certain aspects of the crossover.

A game that easily offers hours of fun, for both single player and multiplayer. Going for all the challenges in the game keeps players who heavily enjoy single player busy for a long time and the game offers a solid pace of gameplay that is a perfect mix of Brawl and Melee. The roster is as good as it's ever been, bringing in amazing new characters and even expanding to DLC characters, all in which are great. While it was disappointing to see the Ice Climbers or Snake get cut, the roster remains as good as ever. There is a solid selection of stages that do a great job of recapping Nintendo's recent history and the returning stages cover Nintendo's history from before brawl. There is a satisfying amount of single player content as well. The game works surprisingly well with 8 players as well. While it can get chaotic, that's the fun of it. Overall, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U does a great job at fixing whatever problems Brawl had and did even better at adding to it. I highly recommend this to any Smash fan or players new to the series.

A seriously addicting game that's both fun and challenging. The unique worlds add in different strategies and great levels of challenge. At some points, the zombie combination comes off as sheer annoyance (specifically in the Dark Ages, Big Wave Beach and Neon Mix Tape), but for the most part, the game is incredibly fun. It has many throwbacks to the first game while adding in new plants, zombies and mini-games to keep the game feeling fresh. I overall heavily enjoy the game, more so as new worlds kept being released.

Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon is definitely a step up from the previous installment and fixed a lot of problems Gates to Infinity had. Having a compelling storyline, a wide variety of Pokémon to play as, easy to grasp gameplay and a good pace of difficulty makes the game as solid as the previous entries have been. However there are a few details that didn't sit right with me, such as the new recruitment method, though the rest of the details are mere nitpicks. I did personally enjoy Explorers of Time/Darkness and Red/Blue Rescue Team better, but Super Mystery Dungeon is a fantastic entry to the series.

There is no way around it, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash was clearly a rushed game. While the game may pass as a normal tennis game, offering solid tennis gameplay, that's about all it passed for. It does not pass as a MARIO Tennis game. The game lacks different modes, such as a tournament mode or special games and diverse and creative courts, instead sticking you in the same stadium with different skins. The character roster was only decent, but still questionable in some areas. The so called "new" mechanic of the Mega Mushroom is just a stale idea that's was already used (better) in Mario Kart Wii and the Ultra Smash move is just a glorified flat shot that's harder to hit. Overall, this game is an empty game lacking everything long time Mario Tennis fans love. You're better off getting the N64, GameCube or even the 3DS Mario Tennis titles.

I wasn't huge on Mario Party 9's change of gameplay from the Mario Party series so I was very disappointed with Mario Party 10 decided to follow in the same footsteps. The car mechanic still forces you to rely on luck and even then it sometimes seems that the CPU players given a luck handicap. Even to play mini-games is a matter of luck, as they are still triggered through spaces. Bowser Party is often heavily tilted in Bowser's favor, which makes the game feel one sided. Even if the Amiibo Party is the closest thing to the original gameplay, playing through even the default ten turns is more tedious than it is fun.

Personally, a better idea for a Super Mario Bros. anniversary than the last one. The idea of creating your own 2D Mario levels almost feels like your making a game of your own. The controls for making levels is simple and fun and it is probably the most fun when you actually know what you want to make. There are a great amount of things to use and test out which overall makes for many different level designs. However, should you eventually run out of ideas, it does become a bit harder to go back to. Regardless, should you have a creative mind that doesn't run dry fast, Super Mario Maker can keep you satisfied for a long time.

Yoshi's Woolly World is a beautifully crafted game. It's artistic style is not only a cute sight, but creates some interesting game mechanics, such as the use of curtains and yarn balls. The game does a great job of following in past Yoshi's Island games in terms of collectables as well as adding even more to it through Yoshi Designs. So if you like collecting things, this game will satisfy that need. While the game doesn't get all that difficult as you go along and the final boss isn't exactly as spectacular compared to Yoshi's Island or Yoshi's Island DS, the game still has its tricky moments through secret levels. And even if people do find it trickier than expected, the mellow mode makes for an easy way to scout out a level. Overall, Yoshi's Woolly World is a great Wii U title that is sure to capture the eyes of Yoshi fans of any age.

Mario Kart 8 plays as good as it looks. The courses are not only dynamic, but a pleasure to look at, with all of them filled with detail. Even the retro tracks look beautiful with their nice re-designs. The roster of characters is a bit of a mix, having an equal amount of interesting adds (such as the Koopalings) and pointless adds (such as Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach). While it was nice that the kart part unlocking criteria wasn't nearly as time consuming as it was in Mario Kart 7, I still think that there could've been a better method. All in all, I'd highly recommend Mario Kart 8 to any Wii U owner.

As a long time fan of Paper Mario, I was truly excited for a handheld installment. Unfortunately, I don't feel this game lives up to the reputation of the past three in the series. While it has a few charms here and there, they are mostly overshadowed by its flaws. Battles are fun when you first start, but the lack of reward you get for battling makes them more pointless as you go along. The sticker concept is an interesting idea, but the stickers themselves had many flaws, such as many being over powered and unnecessary to use against almost any enemy. The boss battles were either tough as nails or complete pushovers depending on if you had the right stickers to use. I can say that many of the puzzles the game had to offer were fairly clever and really did get you thinking on which sticker you needed to solve it, Lastly, the lack of a story and creative Paper Mario staples made it feel like I was playing a main game rather than a Paper Mario game. All in all, I'd highly recommend playing the first three games before going to this one.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is a stellar entry to the series; unique and fun characters, both new and familiar, solid gameplay, a balanced battle system and amazing storyline that does a good job of living up to the past installments. The beginning is fairly sluggish with it's over amount of tutorials, but once you get passed that, the game is a memorable adventure and a great 3DS title.