Time spins on, my friends. With each passing Holiday season, I'm reminded that my childhood was a long time ago, and it's only drifting further and further away into the past. My parents gifted my siblings and I a PlayStation 1, our first video game console, in the Christmas of 1998. I remember plugging that … Continue reading My 2021 In Gaming
Tag: Nintendo
Mini Review Marathon 2021
It’s that time of year again! I really look forward to my Mini Review Marathon. It’s a good writing exercise to try and condense my opinion about a game down to just a paragraph or two. This year I have nine such reviews lined up for all of you! 1. Ultimate NES Remix (Nintendo 3DS) … Continue reading Mini Review Marathon 2021
Game Builder Garage – My New Game-Making Hobby
Game Builder Garage is a creative engine and online platform for sharing fan-made games developed and published by Nintendo. It was released on the Nintendo Switch in June of 2021. MSRB is $30. A demo is available to download as well. I had asked Nintendo to develop a Super Zelda Dungeon Maker. What I got … Continue reading Game Builder Garage – My New Game-Making Hobby
Ranking Smash Ultimate’s Second Wave of DLC Fighters
Well, people, it finally happened. We can now say for certain that everyone is here. We’ve had quite a journey with this second wave of Smash DLC fighters. It all began as a bit of good news in January 2020 that we would get six more fighters, and then it kicked off for real in … Continue reading Ranking Smash Ultimate’s Second Wave of DLC Fighters
The GameCube: Finally Appreciated After 20 Years
Last week I talked about the Game Boy Advance, and today it's time to gush about the GameCube. The GameCube launched in November of 2001. Like in my last post, this was a time before I had regular access to the internet and so could only find out about games through TV ads, store demo … Continue reading The GameCube: Finally Appreciated After 20 Years
The Game Boy Advance: A 20th Anniversary Celebration
In the summer of 2001, Nintendo released the 32-bit successor to the Game Boy: The Game Boy Advance (GBA). It lived for only a brief period, a little over 3 years, but they were very successful years, and they defined an important era of my life. Allow me to indulge in my memories of the … Continue reading The Game Boy Advance: A 20th Anniversary Celebration
Metroid Dread Review: A Modern Classic
Metroid Dread is a 2D Metroidvania game developed by MercurySteam and published by Nintendo. It was released in October 2021 as a Nintendo Switch exclusive. MSRB is $60. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I'm mostly going to show screenshots from the first 3 areas of the game and only talk about the early plot. … Continue reading Metroid Dread Review: A Modern Classic
Ys IX Monstrum Nox Review: The Goth JRPG
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is an Action RPG developed by Nihon Falcom and published by NISA. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in February 2021 and later for the PC, Stadia, and Nintendo Switch in July 2021. I played the Nintendo Switch version. Ys VIII really impressed me last year with its slick combat, … Continue reading Ys IX Monstrum Nox Review: The Goth JRPG
Fusing The Best Parts of Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission
We're in the home stretch, and it'll be a double-header this time! Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission were both Game Boy Advance games developed within 2 years of each other, and were released during the series' brief renaissance of the early 2000s. Metroid: Zero Mission is a remake of the first NES game with … Continue reading Fusing The Best Parts of Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission
Super Metroid: A Critical Second Look
Super Metroid sits on a golden pedestal, inside a sacred chamber, deep within the revered temple of Retro Video Game Classics. To approach, one must meditate for seven days, chanting the ancient mantra: atmosphere, exploration, powerups, backtracking... atmosphere, exploration, powerups, backtracking... once you've cleansed yourself from the impure, hand-holding world of Modern Gaming, you may … Continue reading Super Metroid: A Critical Second Look