My Definitive, Official Mario RPG Ranking

 As I said in my Brothership review, I wanted to dedicate my post to doing a proper ranking of all of the Mario RPGs. I've talked a lot about these games over the past year or so between the recent releases and my Top 100 Games series, but with how scattered all those posts are, I wanted to compile all of my thoughts on the series in a single place. This is a bit of a loose ranking since there are some games that I feel occupy a similar place in my heart, and thus the same spot on the list, so its primary purpose is to show how I hold up the various Mario RPGs we've gotten up to each other. So without further ado, let's do this:

12. Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Wow, I know, big shocker, Sticker Star in last place. This is probably the coldest take you could have, but my slightly warmer opinion is that I don't think Sticker Star is one of the worst Nintendo games ever made? Like, this game does do quite a bit right. Obviously, the papercraft artstyle is gorgeous especially for the hardware, and the jazz-infused soundtrack is a highlight in a franchise already packed with stellar music. The overworld design also took a big step-up with Sticker Star, with each area feeling more like a level from 3D Land with how it's filled with coins to find, secrets to uncover, and platforms to hop across. I'm also going to make the bold statement that the battle system is almost pretty cool. Emphasis on almost. People rag about the lack of XP as if it's some cardinal RPG sin, but plenty of great RPGs do away with XP, including the Battle Network series which has a similar focus on collecting attack moves. If you have the patience to actually try and play by Sticker Star's rules, fighting every battle you see, trying to fill up the Sticker Museum, making as much money as possible to fill your stickerbook with Things, you don't have all that bad of a gameplay loop right there.

The only problem is Sticker Star seems to do everything in its power to discourage you from playing by its rules. The fact that all stickers and all attacks are one-time use only means players are going to want to avoid battles out of fear of being left with nothing. The fact that Things are very frequently used for overworld puzzles and the game never hints to you which Things you'll be needing means players won't want to use them in battle out of fear of getting stuck on puzzle. And some of the nuances of the battle system like how you can get more coins for finishing battles early aren't even properly conveyed to you. Of course, a similar issue applies to the literally paper-thin story which lacks any of the charming character development that I love about Mario RPGs, and the only character who does have any semblance of personality is the unpleasant Kersti who feels like Starlow if her haters were right about her. Sticker Star doesn't have the worst groundwork in the world and if you play it in a very specific way, you can get some enjoyment out of it, but it feels like it's trying to do everything in its power to prevent you from wanting to engage with it. It's the Mario RPG that I'm the least invested in by far, and that's why it's my least favorite even if I don't personally think it's that bad of a game.

11. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam is a game I find myself constantly being harsher on than I think it really deserves. In the moment, Paper Jam is a fun little RPG. It carries over Dream Team's stellar battle system with some additional flourishes like the cards and the addition of Paper Mario, while also improving on the pacing issues its predecessor had quite a bit. The overworld exploration is still fun, the comedic writing is still pretty solid, the soundtrack is more Shimomura goodness, and the story manages to explore a lot of mainstay Mario characters like Toadette, Wiggler, and the Koopalings in a way we hadn't really seen up to this point. I do have a few gameplay gripes like how the game teases you with Bowser's Castle at the midpoint only to make you retread old ground (a Mario & Luigi staple at this point), and the abundance of missions that disrupt the flow of exploration, but for the most part, Paper Jam is a really solid, mechanically sound game.

But you know where this is going, Paper Jam shouldn't have just been solid. It should have been amazing! This was a crossover between the two big Mario RPG franchises, it needed to be a big event but what we got feels so sterile and lacking in ambition? Sure, seeing classic Mario characters get more depth is cool, but that feels like a consolation for the fact that we barely got any nods to either series. The only RPG-original character in Paper Jam is a flanderized Starlow, and most of the locations you visit are just generic NSMB biomes. And speaking of which, while Paper Jam isn't inherently unfunny, it easily suffers the most in terms of the sincerity issues Mario & Luigi games tend to struggle with. Paper Jam is so focused on giving you a good laugh that it feels entirely unconcerned with making you invested in what's going on, which means that the one time it actually tries a sincere emotional beat with Wiggler's fake death, it feels completely tonally jarring. While Paper Jam is a better game than Sticker Star, I almost find it to be the bigger disappointment because at least Sticker Star tried something new. Paper Jam just feels like Alphadream going through the motions.

10.  Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

As I've said here plenty of times, I'm not a tactical RPG guy. It's not impossible for me to like one of them, but even for the ones I do genuinely enjoy like FF Tactics, Disgaea, and Advance Wars, I can't exactly say I'm very good at them either. So while I can acknowledge that Kingdom Battle is a good TRPG, it's just not really my thing. That being said, I appreciate the attempt to make the game more accessible for beginners in a similar fashion to how the Paper Mario games were gateways to turn-based RPGs. The arenas are dynamic, there's a solid amount of customization to give the game some depth, and I really love the more explorative segments in between battles that give the player a bit of time to breathe. From a more objective standpoint, my only real gripe with the gameplay here is that you're stuck having Mario in your three-person party which does limit your options a bit too much.

However, I am also a bit split on Kingdom Battle from a narrative and presentation standpoint. There's no denying that the Mario & Rabbids games look fantastic for the Switch, with the animation quality in particular being absolutely outstanding. Mario's interactions with the Rabbids are so charmingly and expressively animated, making this the most charismatic the Rabbids have ever been (and this is coming from someone who actually likes those freaks). However, while the moment-to-moment gags are pretty great, Kingdom Battle is pretty light on plot. It has a very rigid world-based structure and lacks the stronger overarching plot that its sequel has, and it certainly doesn't help that the world itself has a very blocky and generic feel to it. And as much as I love Kirkhope and his work, even the soundtrack isn't especially standout to me outside of a few tracks. Maybe it's just because Sparks Of Hope upped the ante in pretty much every single aspect here, but as time passes, Kingdom Battle just feels more and more forgettable to me.

That being said, the Donkey Kong DLC is fantastic, a wonderful love letter to the character's history that might genuinely be better than the main game? The music certainly is, Kirkhope really killed it for the DK tracks.

9. Paper Mario: Color Splash

Color Splash is a frustrating game because while it does try to fix most of Sticker Star's big gameplay issues, I'd argue it's a half-step at best and a regression at worst. I genuinely think the battles in Sticker Star are better since they're a lot snappier and faster-paced, compared to Color Splash's battles which drag since you have to slowly sift through and paint your card deck to be able to use a single attack. You do have XP now, but it's only for your paint hammer, and while you now have an NPC in town that tells you which Things you'll need in the future, their implementation in boss fights is straight up a downgrade since you need them to win rather than being able to tank through without them through smart sticker usage. And yet, despite all of these issues, Color Splash isn't just higher than Sticker Star, it's multiple spots higher. That's because everything else about Color Splash is flat-out incredible.

While the story is still fairly basic, it's a real wonder how much having a genuinely good partner in the form of Huey helps me get more invested in what's going on. Hell, I think Huey might even be a Top 3 Mario RPG partner along with Starlow and Vivian. Not only is he an immensely likable and chill dude, but he also has a genuinely strong arc where he goes from a complete coward to a real hero in the end. The comedic writing is also some of the best in the franchise if not in all of gaming, the jokes fly fast and furious and pretty much always land. Beyond the story, the level design is also stellar, taking advantage of the color theming to offer far stranger and more varied environments and setpieces. In what other game can you fight a steak in an RPG boss fight, go on a parallel-universe hopping pirate expedition, partake in a gladiator match, and break the boundaries of Super Mario Bros 3 with Super-esque dimensional flipping? Color Splash genuinely has some of my favorite levels and areas in video game history, and the addition of paint spots does a lot to make me want to explore them even more. Add in the improved HD visuals and audio, and you get a genuinely great game in every way except the battle system, which is my least favorite in the entire franchise. That's the real shame about Color Splash, I could easily see it as a pretty high ranking Mario RPG if it didn't drop the ball so hard with one of the most crucial elements.

8. Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time

Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time has often been held up as the most underappreciated Mario RPG, with many claiming it deserves to be held up alongside Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story as one of the greats. Sadly, I don't agree. Partners In Time is a game with a lot of mechanical issues that really prevent me from loving it as much as I wish it could, so I'm just going to quickly run through a bunch of them. The level design is more barren and linear than in any of the other Mario & Luigi games, there's a serious lack of side content, Stuffwell's relentless tutorials in the first hour are a real slog, the addition of the babies makes even doing basic action commands feel too complex and cumbersome, and the Bros Items while not deal-breakers are a notable downgrade from the BP system of the other games. Worst of all, the US release severely buffed enemy and boss health making every encounter a frustrating marathon when it really shouldn't be. Thankfully, I can just play the European version but this kind of localization meddling is something I've never been especially fond of.

That being said, even with all these issues, Partners In Time still has the same strong base that the other Mario & Luigi games have. Hell, there are even a decent amount of improvements over Superstar Saga like the additional buttons and touchscreen streamlining navigation along with the flashier Bros Moves. It's just that most of the changes Partners In Time makes tend to be slight downgrades. That being said, what saves this game for me is the atmosphere and presentation. Partners In Time is infamous for being one of the bleakest Mario RPGs, taking place before, during, and after an apocalyptic alien invasion. The Shroobs are a fantastic and menacing threat, and the game never pulls its punches when depicting the horrors of their actions. I kinda love this about Partners In Time though, it gives the game such a uniquely haunting vibe coupled with its darker color palette and Shimomura's phenomenal score. And yet, Partners In Time never really loses that Mario & Luigi charm. It's a blisteringly fast-paced and offbeat whirlwind of an adventure that balances the series' staple humor with the darker elements pretty much flawlessly, making for a really fresh experience even with its many flaws.

7.  Mario & Rabbids: Sparks Of Hope

Since I didn't love Kingdom Battle, I held off on getting Sparks Of Hope since I had kinda just accepted that tactical RPGs probably just weren't worth getting. But then, just last year, it got a free trial thanks to NSO. So I gave it a shot and god damn, this game is good! Sparks Of Hope improves on pretty much all of my issues with Kingdom Battle and then some, while also leaning more on the RPG elements to great effect in my opinion. I can see why some would prefer Kingdom Battle if they wanted a more focused tactical experience, but the addition of leveling and mob encounters really helps with the pacing (and as someone who sucks ass at tactical games, having grinding as an option also really helps get past any potential walls). The battle system itself is also a lot more fun thanks to the newly added movement mechanics, along with the fact that Mario isn't mandatory anymore, thank god. Even the overworld is more fun to explore since the locations are a lot more sprawling, naturalistic, and visually-interesting. There's sidequests! And dungeons! And heaps upon heaps upon heaps of collectibles!

And as I hinted at when talking about Kingdom Battle, Sparks Of Hope also improves upon the presentation in pretty much every way. The graphics are so crisp and clean that people genuinely thought this was a Switch 2 build when it was first announced, and the animations are even more detailed and fluid than ever before. The soundtrack is also a massive step up with Yoko Shimomura and Gareth Coker being brought on to work with Kirkhope, and they all absolutely brought their A-game to this one. But best of all, the story is really strong too. The mystery of Cursa is a really engaging central plot, the Spark Hunters are so fun and charismatic (especially Edge) that I almost forget they're supposed to be Rabbids half the time, and the addition of light voice acting really helps Sparks Of Hope stand out. And once again, the DLC is superb, with the easy standout being Rayman's first proper game appearance in so freaking long. While I will always prefer turn-based battles at the end of the day, Sparks Of Hope is the closest a game in this genre has gotten to really hooking me and that's a very high point of praise.

6. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is pretty much the baseline for what a good Mario RPG should do. I can't exactly say it does much wrong. The Beanbean Kingdom is one of the series' most iconic original settings for a reason, its open layout makes it a joy to explore and the way it messes around with your expectations of what a Mario location can be really helps establish the offbeat tone that Mario & Luigi as a series would become known for. The battle system is also really fun, expanding on Alphadream's prior experience with Tomato Adventure to create a more skill-based and interactive turn-based system than anything we've really seen up to this point. The ability to tune the difficulty of the Bros Attacks to your own skill level gives the combat a decent level of mastery, and the way your overworld and battle progression are intertwined is absolutely masterful. Beyond the strong base gameplay, the pacing is incredibly tight, the art direction and animation is some of the most vibrant and expressive on the GBA, and Shimomura's soundtrack is iconic even if it's held back a tad by the hardware. As I said, there really isn't much to dislike here. Superstar Saga is just an incredibly solid package all around.

However, I do personally think Superstar Saga is a bit overhyped, especially compared to its more developed successors. While there's something to be said about the simplicity of SS's action commands, I'll admit that I vastly prefer the flashier attacks that later games would introduce. The difficulty balancing is also pretty off, since the open overworld means it's very easy to accidentally overlevel, trivializing the rest of the game up until the difficulty spike of a final boss. Speaking of the ending, the mostly stellar pacing does come to a pretty severe halt once you arrive at Joke's End which is both the worst and longest area of the game by a pretty wide margin. On top of all that, I'm also not huge on the story of Superstar Saga, it's an incredibly funny game, but it does feel more like a series of sketches than an actual cohesive narrative. Compared to my gripes with something like Partners In Time, these issues are all a lot smaller and more nitpicky, but they do play a part in me not placing Superstar Saga as high as some others. It's an incredibly consistent game and stands out as a high point in the GBA's library, but it doesn't quite reach the highs of my favorite Mario RPGs.

5. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team & Brothership

This is where I'm going to start ranking some games together, and I think Dream Team and Brothership sharing the same spot makes total sense since they share very similar strengths and weaknesses. So yeah, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. Both of these games have some serious pacing issues, though to different degrees. Dream Team is infamous for its slow, tutorial-heavy start, and while I personally wasn't bothered by it quite as much as others, I can't exactly say it's not noticeable. Once it does pick up, though, Dream Team's pacing does start to level out. Brothership's pacing is a lot more schizophrenic. Its story is purposefully a slow burn so it mostly keeps a pretty deliberate pace, but even taking that into account, the first stretch takes way too long to dole out most of your abilities, and the multiple moments of backtracking in the second half really drag the momentum to a halt. The pacing issues across both games are certainly glaring, to the point where I'd totally understand if they're deal-breakers for you, but man is there so much to love if you just stick it through.

On every other level except the pacing, Dream Team is Alphadream working at the peak of their craft. The introduction of fully 3D environments make exploring the overworld more of a joy than ever before, and the battle system is probably my favorite in the entire franchise with how complex, engaging, flashy, and purely fun pretty much all of the action commands are. The Giant Luigi battles are probably my favorite of the gimmick fights in these later games too, such exhilarating and massive spectacles that I always look forward too. The story takes a more earnest approach than what Alphadream is normally used to, delving into Luigi's psych and character in some really affecting and compelling ways, and using the setting of Pi'llo Island to pay homage to the entire series through the abundance of returning faces from previous entries. And speaking of which, the atmosphere of Pi'llo Island is just so enchanting. The ethereal landscapes and color palettes are just gorgeous, and I've already raved about how incredible Shimomura's soundtrack for the game is. I mean it when I say that Dream Team knocks pretty much everything out of the park, it's an incredibly addictive RPG that hits in a way none of the other Mario & Luigi games have. If the pacing was ironed out, this could easily rival or even surpass Bowser's Inside Story as my favorite game in the series. 

Brothership is a much stranger case. Being made by Acquire, it almost feels like its own thing entirely. With the more strategic battle system and more character-focused story, it almost feels like some strange Mario & Luigi/Paper Mario hybrid and I think that kinda rules. However, as I said, many of Brothership's greatest strengths are shared with Dream Team's. The overworld traversal is similarly strong in how it makes the most of its 3D landscapes, and the battle system easily ranks as one of the best in the franchise with the added cinematic flair and fun battle plug system. I still think I prefer Dream Team's battle system overall since Brothership has some pretty irritating enemy attacks at points, but it comes damn close. The presentation is also quite storng too, with its stunningly expressive cel-shaded art direction and infectiously catchy tropical-sounding score that grows on me more and more by the day. But the place where Brothership really excels is the story which, now that I've finished it, I can definitively say is one of my favorites in any Mario RPG. The slow burn and focus on character development is an acquired taste, especially when it comes at the cost of the comedic side of the series, but it makes for one of the most sincere and emotionally affecting tales a Mario game has ever told. I've never been this attached to a cast of characters in a Mario RPG, from Connie to Snoutlet to IDLE to Technikki to Burnadette & Chilliam, to even all the returning characters like Starlow and Bowser Jr getting some really great development here. And that final act goes shockingly hard in so many ways, what a game. 

While Dream Team managed to get me to fall in love with Pi'llo Island through its atmosphere, Brothership got me to fall in love with Concordia through the characters that inhabited it. Either way, both games managed to make up for their rough pacing with strong gameplay fundamentals and stellar world-building. They may not be my first picks for a replay, but I will never forget the time I spent with them.

4. Super Mario RPG

Considering the time it came out, Super Mario RPG really is such a weird entry on the console. Stuff like having a more involved overworld with platforming, and action commands in combat weren't really a thing yet. But to this day, Super Mario RPG still feels like such an oddball in all the best ways. Sure, both the Paper Mario games and the Mario & Luigi games built off its groundwork, but neither of those series have the sheer Squaresoft DNA that this first installment has. Like, this really is just Final Fantasy but with action commands, and that's really cool. And yet, Super Mario RPG doesn't really feel its age either, it holds up incredibly well. All the remake really did was spruce up the visuals and add a few small mechanics to flesh out the combat a bit, but otherwise, it's so intuitively designed that anyone playing it for the first time wouldn't notice it was made over 25 years ago.

But beyond the circumstances of its creation, I think what I like about Super Mario RPG is that it has all the best strengths of all the best Mario RPGs, just in a more compact form. It's got an involved overworld that's fun to explore and filled with charming secrets and easter eggs and a great battle system that combines turn-based strategy with skill-based timing, but it's also an incredibly briskly-paced thrill ride that you can beat in a mere 10 hours that never lets up for anything. Even Superstar Saga had a Joke's End, but Super Mario RPG never has a dull moment. The story also strikes a perfect balance between strong comedic writing, and fleshing out the Mushroom Kingdom and its characters. SMRPG is easily one of the funniest Mario RPGs for its stellar slapstick gags, but it also has a lovable dynamic between the main party and really strong character arcs for Bowser and Mallow that anchor the story in sincerity. Like, gawk about the isometric visuals all your want, they allow for expressive and dynamic posing the likes of which the SNES has never seen. And that applies double in the remake where you can see the character's expressions a lot more clearly. Top it off with yet another fantastic Shimomura score, and you get one of Squaresoft's most joyous games. Despite its simplicity, Super Mario RPG is just too impossible for me to hate and easily ranks as the most replayable Mario RPG to this day.

3. Paper Mario & Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

 I've been very split on whether I prefer the first Paper Mario or The Thousand Year Door. They both have such drastically different strengths and weaknesses, and yet, they also both have the same core appeal. These are, after all, the only two truly "classic" Paper Mario games. The iconic battle system, the distinct blend of cheeky humor and touching character moments, the intricate world-building, the more diorama aesthetic, all of which are traits only these two games can really claim. For a while, I stood by Paper Mario being the superior entry and trashed TTYD any chance I got. Then, I played and fell in love with the TTYD remake in a way that I never had with the original so I shifted to it being my preferred of the two. But now that a lot of time has passed, I think I've leveled out to both games being roughly even, for their own unique reasons.

Paper Mario is the comfiest and most consistent Mario RPG experience. It was also my first Mario RPG period, so it's probably the one I have the strongest personal connection with. The pastel, pop-up book presentation inspired by Yoshi's Island is still unlike anything else in the franchise, and stands out as the best-looking visuals the N64 has to offer. The quirky soundtrack also really accentuates the comfy vibes with its simple but catchy melodies, wild genre shifts, and occasional dips into pure lo-fi. While the story itself isn't quite as powerful as other entries, I also love how it expands on the basic "Bowser kidnaps Peach" plot and the Mushroom Kingdom as a whole. This is still probably my favorite iteration of the setting to this day. On a gameplay level, Paper Mario isn't as complicated as its sequel, but it's far better balanced and paced. There aren't many moments when Paper Mario drags or forces you to backtrack all that far, and the addition of a spin move (which later games are sorely missing) helps to keep up the pace. The battle system does a lot with very little, encouraging you to strategize with the items and badges you're given while not being too exploitable like many of the mid 2000s entries. While I think SMRPG is more inherently replayable due to its short length, Paper Mario is the entry I've replayed the most because it's just pure, distilled fun the whole way through.

The Thousand Year Door, on the other hand, is a lot more challenging, thematically speaking. It's got higher highs and lower lows than 64, but those highs are so high that the game sticks with you all the more. The battle system may be more exploitable, but the abundance of new mechanics and options to consider make it more fun to engage in regardless. The overworld progression may not be as fast, but the locations you visit are far more interesting and dynamic. The overall presentation is as strong as ever too, especially in the remake with its multiple great soundtracks and its gorgeous diorama look that feels like the perfect style for the Paper Mario series going forward. But it's the story that's the real standout compared to 64, as while I have a few gripes with it, it does a lot more to invest you in the world and characters. The partners are far more developed and interesting, with Vivian in particular standing out as one of my favorites for pretty obvious reasons. Rogueport is a much stronger hub in how it goes from abrasive and unwelcoming to feeling like home by the end of the game. There's more memorable running subplots like the mafia drama, the humor is more dark and biting, and the game more frequently resorts to telling its story through the gameplay in really striking and memorable ways. Similarly to Dream Team and Brothership, I was so invested in TTYD's world that I just didn't want to leave by the end of playing the remake.

Paper Mario 64 and TTYD are the most classic Paper Mario games, so to speak. There's an enduring charm to both of them and their battle systems still hold up as some of my favorites in any Mario RPG. While I wouldn't call either of them these unimpeachable masterpieces that every Mario RPG should aspire to being, I do very much understand why they have such a broad, long-lasting appeal. There's just something magical about them.

2. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

 As far as the pure RPGs go, Bowser's Inside Story is my favorite Mario RPG ever made. It's so good, too good even. I'm sure you've noticed most of the top of this list is occupied by Paper Mario, and that's mostly just because Bowser's Inside Story is so good that every other Mario & Luigi game suffers by comparison. I've gone on about how incredibly well-paced BiS is as an RPG before, it almost feels like it always knows when you're about to get tired of an area or enemy type before tossing you a new one. But unlike Superstar Saga and Super Mario RPG, it's not too short or too easy either. This is a beefy adventure, and the fact that it manages to go on for almost 20 hours without having any fat to it is really impressive. Beyond the pacing, the battle system keeps the flashier Bros Attacks and quality of life improvements that PiT added while smoothing over pretty much all of that game's rougher edges, the soundtrack is one of the most iconic and catchy in the series, and the comedic writing is flat-out the best in the entire franchise. Color Splash and SMRPG come close, but Bowser's Inside Story is the funniest Mario RPG in my opinion, filled to the brim with iconic jokes, gags, and line deliveries, partially thanks to the reintroduction of Fawful as main villain.

But the thing that really elevates Bowser's Inside Story is in the name. This is the only game in the entire franchise that makes Bowser not just a playable character but a pivotal one that all of its design revolves around, and it's for the better. Playing as Bowser is an absolute joy, maybe even more fun than the Mario Bros himself. Alphadream expertly toes the line between making Bowser feel like a badass power trip without having him trivialize the game, and the way the overworld is built around both Bowser and the Mario Bros is incredibly cool. Bowser is also the beating heart of the story, as his growth into a reluctant hero forms the backbone of the narrative that adeptly balances the stellar comedy with solid emotional stakes. And of course, I also can't go without talking about the introduction of my beloved Starlow, whose interactions with Bowser are always a ton of fun to watch.

Bowser's Inside Story isn't just a great Mario RPG. I think it deserves to be held up as one of the greatest RPGs in general. It's just nonstop, propulsive inventiveness that never lets up for its entire runtime.

1. Super Paper Mario & Paper Mario: The Origami King

Super Paper Mario & The Origami King are the biggest oddballs in the entire Mario RPG pantheon. One may even argue they're the black sheeps. Super Paper Mario is technically an action RPG, but only barely. On almost every other level, it's so drastically different, it almost feels wrong to call it a part of the same series. The Origami King is more like the RPG entries on a surface level, but in practice, it's the closest any of these games have come to feel more like a straight-forward adventure game. And yet, despite how drastically different and bafflingly singular they are, these two games hit so different. They're truly unlike any other gaming experiences I've ever had, and I love them for all their weirdness.

On pretty much every level except the battle system, The Origami King is an absolute masterpiece. I know this sounds similar to what I said about Color Splash but it's amplified here. The overworld is easily my favorite in any Mario RPG, with engaging platforming and puzzles, large open spaces to explore, tons upon tons of collectibles, and an interconnected layout that helps the world feel more cohesive than the previous two games. The papercraft visuals are at their absolute best here, and the soundtrack still stands out as one of the greatest and most diverse in all of gaming. The story is the first one in years to lean towards a more character-driven narrative, with an incredibly earnest tone that Brothership would proceed to run all the way with. Yet unlike Brothership, The Origami King still manages to almost rival Color Splash in pure hilarity. There are so many memorable and wacky setpieces here from the big play sequence to the disco pyramid to the elaborate Zelda reference, but there's also a lot of really touching moments like Olivia's development, anything involving the Bowser family, and especially Bobby's arc. The only subpar element in The Origami King is of course the ring-based battle system, but as a fan of puzzle games, I can enjoy it enough that it doesn't detract too much from the overall experience. Everything else is so magical and consistently fun that despite that one issue, The Origami King is a game that I just get choked up even thinking about.

Super Paper Mario is almost a similar case but even more extreme. You can definitely pin down a lot of flaws with Super like its trivial combat and several tedious puzzles, but I'm once again willing to put up with them because this game manages to accomplish things no other game really does. I've never played a game that leans this hard on being able to flip from 2D to 3D, and the novelty of it all never really wears off. The way Super manages to translate tropes and mechanics from its direct predecessor into this new 2D platforming action RPG style is so incredibly seamless that I've seen people call it an honorary sequel to TTYD, and it's not hard to see why. The soundtrack is once again one of my personal favorites in all of gaming, the digital-inspired aesthetic is so aggressively 2000s in all the best ways, and then there's the story. Super Paper Mario's story feels like a logical extension of TTYD. It has an even larger scale and sense of intensity, it has even stronger emotional stakes in the form of Tippi and Bleck's relationship, it has even darker and more meta comedy, it plays around with the way the medium can tell stories in even more interesting ways, and it has some of the best characterization for Bowser, Peach, and Luigi. Nothing in any other Mario RPG even comes close to topping the shocking hilarity of the Fort Francis sequence, or the memorably tedious events at Merlee's Mansion, or the stunningly bleakness of the World Of Nothing, or the sheer intensity of the entire final act at Castle Bleck. Super's gameplay is fun and novel and all, but it all works to service this absolutely incredible story.

For as much as I like to tout gameplay over story, I feel like RPGs are the one genre where that doesn't really apply for me. If I had to pick between an RPG with perfect gameplay and mechanics, and an RPG that put its emotional hooks into me with stellar storytelling, I'm picking the latter any day of the way. From a gameplay standpoint, both Super and The Origami King are fairly experimental and imperfect, but their sheer novelty combined with how well they manage to prop up their strong narratives still make them stand out as my favorite Mario "RPGs". 

And that's why I love these games at the end of the day, because they manage to take a fairly story-light franchise and try to give them genuine depth that the mainline entries probably never will. Mario RPGs can expand upon the veteran characters and introduce a ton of lasting new ones, they can tell more emotionally-driven stories or go even further into cheeky comedy, and they can take really interesting risks both mechanically and story-wise. I play Mario RPGs to see how Nintendo can push the limits of what a Mario game can be and most of the best ones (aka Sparks Of Hope onward) manage to do that with flying colors.

Other Thoughts On Game Remakes

A while back, I made a post about remakes, looking through a bunch of more recent remakes to see whether or not they were collectively a good or a bad thing. To be blunt, I'm not especially proud of that post, it felt really oversimplified and lacking in nuance. The fact is that there are always going to be good and bad remakes, and whether or not they are good or bad depends on the person. You can't just calculate if remakes as a concept are good by pure math.

Since then, remakes have had some pretty fiery discourse in the year 2024, with the release of some fairly divisive remakes of Persona 3 Reload, The Thousand Year Door, and Silent Hill 2. I've seen many people just straight up swear off the concept of remakes entirely this year, and considering how common they feel now and how much discourse they spawn, I can't exactly blame them from getting tired of it all. However, it did also cause me to think about my thoughts on remake culture as of late. Why do I endlessly praise some remakes for being incredible modernizations that sand over all my issues with the original and at times replace it entirely, while also harshly criticizing other remakes for exactly that? Why I am I fine with the Super Mario RPG remake adding in an unnecessary amount of quality of life features that arguably make the game too easy, while also turning my nose up at the Return To Dream Land remaster for doing the same thing?

I think what I was missing with that first post was that no remakes are objectively better or worse than the originals. The quality of a remake relative to the original is entirely based on the person playing it. Discussion of remakes is an inherently vulnerable thing, you can't talk about them without opening up about your own history with the source material. I grew up with Return To Dream Land, it was one of my big childhood games, and some of the quirks that others may criticize like the do-or-die Energy Spheres or the precise Stomper Boot timing are things about the game that I've grown to find charming. While I played plenty of Super Mario RPG as a kid, I can't say I had anywhere near the same emotional investment to it, so any changes it might have had didn't really phase me. I was just happy to have a version of the game that kept a similar artstyle while boasting more detail.

That's not to say you need to be emotionally invested in the source material to prefer it to its remake, though. Sometimes people might just... prefer the original for their own reasons. The N Sane Trilogy is loved by many fans for its more realistic visuals, smoother movement, and improved save features, but despite never growing up with Crash, I simply prefer how the PS1 versions play. They just feel better to me, and that's that. I've even seen people voice their preferences for remakes that I thought were pretty much untouchable, like preferring the more isolating and obtuse vibe of NES Metroid to Zero Mission, or preferring the lighter B-movie charm of Resident Evil to its bleaker REmake. I said that remakes "need to be a love letter" to be good, but that doesn't guarantee everyone will love it. Besides, I'm sure Vicarious Visions put their heart into the N Sane Trilogy so who am I to say it's not a passion project because I didn't like it? The fact is that there will never be a remake that everyone will prefer to the original, there will always be that one change that sets someone off.

However, I still think remakes are important, even if not everyone is going to be welcome to their changes. For whatever people a remake alienates, there will probably be just as many people who discover one of their new favorite games through these remakes. Like, for as easy as it is to just tell someone to emulate the original, not everyone knows how to do that or is even willing to learn. The fact is that remakes and rereleases are the best way to re-introduce a game to a wider audience, and maybe also people who didn't even like the original. I've seen the argument that remakes are inherently worse because the source material was made that way for a reason and any change is just messing with the original vision, but that's not true. No game has a spotless development, and sometimes developers may genuinely just regret decisions they made the first time (the Ocarina/Majora 3D remakes being a notable example of this).

For me, The Thousand Year Door is the best example of this. While I never hated TTYD, it was originally a game that I was incredibly critical of, only for its remake to address pretty much all of my complaints and win me over in the process. Sure, the remake did have a few downgrades like the easier Pit Of 100 Trials and certain music tracks not sounding quite as good, but the diminished backtracking, more tactile visuals, and especially having a canonically trans Vivian are way more important to me personally. Vivian being trans is a special case because it was pretty much always the developer's intention, the localization just wrote it out because it was 2004. So that's just a case of the remake straight-up affirming the game's original vision, and it gave trans people another character they can see themselves in, in the form of Vivian. That's why remakes are important, because they can leave their own unique mark on players that the original game may not have been able to reach.

So ultimately, I think my verdict on the "original vs remake" debate is... both. Both is good. I'm glad we get remakes because they allow more players to discover old classics, and they serve as a way for developers to address feedback and concerns that fans had towards the original. However, the original game should also be readily available for those that already love them the way they are, and that's sadly the big issue. Not every game can be like Metroid Zero Mission, not every remake includes the original bundled in, and there are a lot of cases where the remake is the only version of a game that's legally available. At the end of the day, that's the biggest tragedy here, and the area where companies and developers are failing us the most.

Remakes aren't inherently good or inherently bad, and with how personal discussion about remakes can be, I don't think we'll ever find an "objective" answer to the matter. But as long as the original exists in some form, a remake, remaster, or rerelease existing doesn't harm it in any way, it only further extends its reach. More options is always a good thing in my book, so even if not every remake lands for me, I'd say remakes as a whole are generally a net positive.

Mario & Luigi Brothership: Early Impressions

So yeah, as I said in my last post, I got Mario & Luigi: Brothership as a gift. It kinda felt like a big wrench in my plans for the new year at the time, since I purposefully held off on getting it due to its infamous length and divisive nature. Considering I tend to not beat lengthy RPGs unless it's under very specific circumstances, I wasn't sure if I'd actually have the patience to stick it through, especially if I ended up not liking it. So to make things easier on myself, I'm just going to give my relatively early impressions after playing Brothership for the first 10-or-so hours, as in up to the third sea. I'd say that's a pretty good place to gauge whether or not the game is working for me.

So, what do I think so far? Well, honestly I'm kinda mad. I put off getting this game for a month because of all the negativity surrounding it. I probably would've put off getting it for even longer if I hadn't gotten it as a gift. With the way people talked about Brothership, I was expecting an absolute mess of a game but... no! I'm actually really liking Brothership. It's a fun Mario RPG, really fun even. It certainly has its flaws and I probably wouldn't call it a top-tier entry in the series, but it's a totally solid Mario & Luigi game that does so much right.

The main premise of Brothership is that Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Starlow, and a whole bunch of other Mario characters have been teleported over to this plug-themed world called Concordia which has been fractured into a whole bunch of different islands. So now you have to sail around, find the various islands of Concordia, and reunite them while also stopping whichever evil force is trying to keep them apart. As far as the core plot goes, it's not anything particularly special so far. The villains are fun but don't have too much going on yet, and it's very obvious early on that Brothership is a game about connection, and it lays down these themes pretty thick. The comedy is also admittedly not as snappy or prevalent as it has been in prior Mario & Luigi games. Not to say Brothership didn't make me laugh, because it definitely did, but it's not as uproariously funny as something like Bowser's Inside Story. And yet, that's not really all that bad of a thing because that's not what Brothership's story is primarily trying to achieve. But at its core, Brothership is a slow burn, character-driven narrative. Over the course of the game, you'll slowly meet a large array of different characters, each with their own struggles, subplots, sidequests, and contributions to the narrative. The hub of Shipshape Island starts out pretty barren, but as the game goes on, it slowly gets populated with people from the other islands and really starts to feel like a home base you can get attached to. It may be different from your average Mario RPG story, but I honestly really vibed with this approach, it feels very akin to a Trails or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game in how it slowly eases you into the world to set up future plot points.

But none of this would work is Brothership didn't have a strong cast of characters, but thankfully, it does, boasting both memorable new cast members and plenty of great returning faces. Connie and Snoutlet are great partners, super charming and wholesome, and helpful without being obtrusive. The IDLE crew is a ton of fun, especially once Peach and Starlow join them. Maykit's poetic dialogue was surprisingly charming, and Technikki quickly became a standout for her cool design, smart and friendly personality, and surprisingly real arc. While I haven't gotten to those parts yet myself, I also need to praise how Starlow gets a sidequest hinting at her dynamic with Bowser, and how Bowser Jr's character development is continued from prior games. Even Mario and Luigi feel more emotive than ever before, with their brotherly dynamic shown in full force. But despite the size of its cast, not a single character feels like they're being lost in the shuffle, everyone gets a chance to interact with the other characters and make their voices heard during major story events. So yeah, I'm really enjoying Brothership's story so far. I think there's a place for more deliberately-paced RPG stories like that of Brothership and more frenetically-paced RPG stories like that of Bowser's Inside Story, one approach isn't inherently better than the other.

The main gameplay loop, as expected, has you visit a variety of different islands and work your way to the lighthouse at the end of each of them. While the early game definitely suffers from having a few too many forest-themed islands, I generally found these islands fun to explore since they balance fun platforming and varied puzzle-solving quite well. Being the first properly 3D Mario & Luigi game, the exploration in Brothership definitely reminds me of the more recent Paper Mario games in how each island almost feels like a 3D Mario stage in its own right. I also like how the world has a real metroidvania feel to it, as I'm constantly running into paths I can't access yet and collectibles tantalizingly out of reach that make me want to return in the future with new abilities. My biggest concern with the overworld in Brothership was the fact that you aren't really able to directly control Luigi like you could in the previous games. In Brothership, Luigi follows along you automatically, and while you can make him jump, it's usually more efficient to instruct him to move on his own. In theory, I thought this was the dumbest change Nintendo could've made, but in execution, I do kinda get it? This definitely feels like a response to the shift towards more three-dimensional movement, and 90% of the time, it feels pretty natural. That being said, this is the first game in the series where Mario and Luigi can get actively desynced from each other and that always feels pretty crummy.

The combat, on the other hand, is left almost completely untouched. It's just as great as always. The action commands are snappy, enemy attacks and animations are well-telegraphed and clear, and every time I enter into a battle, it feels like the series hasn't even left in the first place. One notable change is that standard attacks are more complex, often playing out like one of the Bros Attacks in Superstar Saga. This had me worried at first since the more complex attacks in Partners In Time are a big reason why I find it to be one of the weaker entries, but the timing is generous enough that they didn't feel super overwhelming here. My actual gripe is the fact that you can't select Luigi's actions with the B button, it really just throws me off. The bros attacks work pretty much the same as well, and they're just as fun as ever. Definitely in the vein of the more interactive and flashy ones from the 3DS games (which is a good thing in my eyes), and the camerawork does a great job at making these attacks feel exciting without losing clarity. And that's what I think this combat system primarily excels at. Each fight feels like this cinematic fluidly-animated spectacle but it never gets in the way of the actual mechanics and button timing. The one big new system is the addition of these Battle Plugs that are these buffs that you can equip at the cost of using up their limited charges. It definitely has the potential for a decent amount of strategy since you're encouraged to constantly be switching up your Plugs and changing up your tactics, but I feel I'm still a bit too early on in the game to really be taking advantage of this.

Speaking of which, the biggest criticism a lot of people seem to have with Brothership is the pacing and I can definitely see why, especially compared to other Mario & Luigi games which are known for their blistering pace. I think the biggest culprit is how slowly certain abilities and characters are doled out to the player. It takes way too long the player to get access to the full battle system, and it definitely takes too long for mainstay characters like Peach or Bowser to show up. The load times also aren't great, entering battles takes a bit too long and I really hope Nintendo's future console is able to improve on this. These are issues that I definitely won't defend. However, I think the majority of the pacing accusations are a bit overblown. You don't spend very long in any particular location, cutscenes can almost all be sped up or skipped entirely which is a rarity for Nintendo, and the tutorials which are often the worst thing about a Mario & Luigi game have now be relegated to brisk pop-ups that can be quickly dismissed. Even backtracking to previous islands isn't that bad and sailing around isn't that tedious since the game quickly gives you a whole bunch of fast travel options to speed up the process. I just really don't think Brothership's pacing is that much worse than your average RPG, and even compared to other Mario RPGs, it mostly falls roughly in line with games like TTYD, Origami King, and Dream Team for me, all of which I still really like in spite of their pacing issues.

Putting aside the aforementioned loading times, though, I do think Brothership is a very pretty game. The cel-shaded look is a joy to look at, the environments are incredibly vibrant, and the characters are very expressive. This applies the most to Mario and Luigi themselves, and I'd argue that this is the most lively the two brothers have ever looked. There's a real Gamecube vibe to how much everything squashes and stretches and it really makes for a great translation of the original M&L artstyle. It's not the most polished game out there, Brothership definitely has its fair share of jankier animations, but the sheer charm of the visuals vastly overpowers any seams. On the topic of sound design, I also love the cute character voices, and the soundtrack is not that bad. Obviously, I was very skeptical since Shimomura is my favorite composer and replacing her is such a tough task, but while it's definitely not on her level, Hideki Sakamoto did a fine job. The area themes in particular I found to be really pleasing and comfy to listen to, and the battle themes while unusual-sounding at first do really grow on you.

Overall, I'd say Mario & Luigi: Brothership is a good time so far. Considering this is essentially a new start for the Mario & Luigi series with a new developer, this is a more than solid first attempt that I would love to see expanded upon. It certainly has its fair share of rough edges like the slow rollout of abilities, iffy optimization, weaker soundtrack, and the Luigi controls, but those are all nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. At its core, Brothership nails most of the fundamentals of what I like from a JRPG. The world design and exploration is solid, the combat is fantastic, the story is fantastic, and the presentation is charming. Even if it's not on the level of a Thousand Year Door or a Bowser's Inside Story, it's at the very least around the level of something like Dream Team and that's more than good enough for me.

Tentative Score: 4.5/5 Stars

Update: So I did end up beating Brothership making it the longest RPG I have ever beaten. It was good, and most of my early impressions did hold true. The story definitely kept getting better over time with the ending in particular being incredibly emotionally effective, and I think I feel comfortable calling it one of the best Mario RPG stories right alongside Super Paper Mario. My biggest gripe aside from the obvious pacing issues is that the combat got a tad frustrating in the second half with how lengthy certain enemy attacks were, but that's really it. Overall, I absolutely adored Brothership and I think it's a game that will really stick with me for years to come.

If I had gotten Brothership before making my end of the year list, I'd probably have placed it right above Princess Peach Showtime. And as far as my current ranking of the Mario RPGs go, maybe I'll save that for when I finish Brothership...

2024 Winter Games Sale

With the winter sale, I decided to get a few more games to end off the year: Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight, the Blaster Master Zero trilogy, and the Bleed Complete Bundle. These are all games that I've heard pretty good things about for years, but I've never actually gotten around to playing them so now's a better time than ever, I guess. Let's see if they live up to the hype:

Bleed Complete Bundle

The Bleed games are a duo of short but sweet action platformers that feel like a blend between Gunstar Heroes, a twin-stick shooter, and Devil May Cry. Both games are just constant, nonstop, all killer no filler action with chaotic level design and tons of large-scale bosses each. Once you get used to the dual-joystick control scheme, it's a blast to just shoot your way through these stages. With only seven brisk stages each, both games are incredibly short, but they each come with a lot of replayability between a ranking system, multiple difficulties, sidemodes like a one-life Arcade Mode and a Challenge Mode for fighting bosses, and a variety of unlockable weapons, upgrades, and alternate characters. Both Bleed 1 and 2 are just really fun and fast-paced action games and while they can be pretty tough at first, they're both incredibly fair and reward mastery.

However, in terms of which game is better, I am a little mixed. Bleed 1 is certainly more rough around the edges as movement doesn't feel quite as precise, the visuals can seem a bit washed out, and the music is fairly forgettable. However, I absolutely adore its DMC-esque upgrade system where you get points from doing well in the levels that you can use to buy more weapons, health and energy increases, and a few other perks. Bleed 2 is infinitely more polished, with refined movement, a fun dual-wielding system that lets you use both a gun and a bullet-parrying katana, a more rocking soundtrack by the composer of Minit and Fall Guys, and even more sidemodes like an Endless Mode with procedural level design and a slew of unlockable modifiers. However, there are elements that I prefer about the first game. Bleed 2 takes place in one continuous journey which means the level design isn't quite as weird and varied as in the first game, it reuses a few too many bosses from Bleed 1 as well, and it removes that aforementioned upgrade system entirely. That being said, while both games are great in its own way, I do think Bleed 2 is still the better package .

The Bleed Complete Bundle as a collection is pretty barebones though. It just contains the first two games and nothing else. On Switch, you can't even switch between the two games, you have to exit out which kinda sucks. Thankfully, though, the porting job is pretty much top-notch. Both games run incredibly smoothly even with all of the action, and aside from a minor sound bug in Bleed 1, lack any glaring issues. If you want a pure fun, highly replayable arcade experience, I'd definitely recommend both of the Bleed games. There's never a dull moment in either of two games, and they're constantly bursting at the seams with creativity and charm.

4/5 Stars

Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight

Momodora is quite the fascinating little series, initially starting as what was basically a Cave Story clone before evolving into one of the more beloved indie metroidvania franchises, and Reverie Under The Moonlight is regarded as the point when Momodora really solidified its new identity. RUtM is a fairly small metroidvania where you play as a priestess named Kaho who's trying to purify the land from a deadly curse. Just to get it out of the way, this game is absolutely gorgeous, with bold, colorful, and fluid spritework. The characters all have a cute chibi look to them, but don't let that fool you, this game is dark. Most of the NPCs you meet are suffering from the aforementioned curse in some way, and the somber music and occasionally moody backdrops create a really haunting and depressing tone that helps Momodora 4 stand out. In general, I think Momodora's presentation is outstanding, though my only gripe is that the game is stuck at a 4:3 aspect ratio with no widescreen support or even any border options. Not that I have a problem with 4:3 mind you, but having two large black bars on the side of my Switch for the entire game can feel a bit distracting.

Gameplay-wise, Momodora mostly plays like a 2D soulslike. You have melee and ranged attacks, a dodge roll, and a variety of both active and passive items you can use to help with combat. The control here feels pretty good all around, super tight and responsive, not too sluggish but still feeling deliberate in its pacing. As you'd expect from the genre, this game is quite tough as you can only take so many hits, but it mostly felt totally fair and satisfying to conquer. The world design is more open than I'm used to seeing from a metroidvania, utilizing a hub-and-spokes system. Early on in the game, you stumble upon a city that basically serves as a central hub, and from there, you can uncover a variety of areas in whichever order you want. There's a nice balance between linear challenges and nonlinear exploration, and the world is so small and contained that I never felt like I got lost or was being punished for peeking around. The boss fights are definitely the highlight of Momodora 4 though, with each one being visually creative and boasting challenging but well-telegraphed attacks.

That being said, there are a few elements that prevent RUtM from being something truly extraordinary. For starters, it's just too short. While I appreciate the game's compact layout, I was able to beat it in around 3 hours on a casual playthrough and it feels like it ends just as it's getting really good. I think the difficulty balancing also contributes to this feeling, as since most of the world is open to you from the start, a good chunk of the game keeps a consistent difficulty only to pick up in the final area. Otherwise, though, Momodora 4 was a fun metroidvania with solid control and combat, thoughtful world design, and a fantastic sense of atmosphere. I can't wait for Moonlit Festival to come out on consoles so I can see if it's able to expand on this strong base.

4/5 Stars

Blaster Master Zero 

As a fan of both Blaster Master and Inti Creates, it took me way too long to get to the Zero trilogy. I've even heard some claim that this trilogy, and particularly the third game, ranks as Inti's best work period. Considering how much I adore their work on the Mega Man Zero and ZX series, that's a damn high bar, but I'll try to keep my expectations in check. That being said, I did actually play the demo for Zero 1 back when it released so I already know what to expect with this entry.

Blaster Master Zero is essentially a complete reimagining of the original Blaster Master for the NES, which I actually previously reviewed. While the gameplay loop is pretty much the same and the first area is even 1:1, Zero 1 does quickly diverge with its level and boss design, along with making a lot of gameplay tweaks that take advantage of the newer hardware. Most of my gripes with that original NES entry have pretty much all been smoothed over here. Your hover refills over time, you have a separate button for special weapons, there's now a proper map screen, the wall slide doesn't activate automatically, you get multiple charge shots to let you blow through blocks faster, enemies respawn far less often, and there are permanent upgrades that give you a reason to explore in both the side-scrolling Sophia segments and the top-down Jason segments. Jason himself gets a few permanent upgrades and sub-weapons too, so it feels like he actually grows alongside his tank in this one. The level design is also a lot more interesting in Zero. Past the first area, Blaster Master Zero introduces a variety of level gimmicks in both the Sophia and Jason segments to shake up the original level theming. Area 2 was reimagined from a dingy castle to a vibrant city, Area 3 took the factory setting of the original and added conveyor belts and movable gates, and Area 5 elevates the worst area in the original with the addition of currents to help you move around underwater faster. While it still can be pretty hard to shake the blatant similarities to the original, I think most stages in Zero manage to be improvements on their original counterpart. Emphasis on most though, because Area 7 was an active downgrade from a pretty fun combat-focused stage to a stealth-focused one. It was a frustrating difficulty spike since getting spotted means being ganged up on by enemies and losing a ton of health due to the lack of i-frames, and god forbid you miss something and have to backtrack. I spent over an hour in this fucking place, easily the low point of an other consistently fun game.

Inti Creates also aimed to improve the weapon upgrade system during those top-down segments, but this is probably where the execution fumbled the most. So the way it worked in the original was that the more power you had, the more powerful your weapon, but getting hit makes you lose power. This system had two major issues: Firstly, it sucks to have your weapon be downgraded, and second, the "best" weapon (a wave gun) was actually a downgrade thanks to its inconsistent hitbox. Zero 1 fixes these issues to a degree. You get an upgrade early on that gives you a temporary guard that protects your power for a single hit, the wave gun properly works, and you can choose between any of the weapon types you're able to use given your power. However, this is a double-edged sword since the weapons are pretty horribly balanced. The wave gun is far and away the best weapon as it should be, but it's so good that you can wipe the floor with any enemy or boss with minimal effort right from the very start of the game, making the vast majority of Zero 1 an absolute cakewalk. But on the other hand, most of the other weapons are pretty weak, and as I mentioned, the lack of i-frames means it's very easy to get trapped between a bunch of enemies and lose your entire arsenal (especially in Area 7, my god). The difficulty balancing is all over the place, which I'd argue is the biggest flaw with Zero 1. I can only hope that the sequels are able to smooth that out.

Another area where Blaster Master Zero stands out is in its story elements. Despite having the same basic premise as the first game, a guy named Jason piloting a tank called the Sophia III to rescue his pet frog Fred, it similarly diverges once you come across a girl named Eve in the second area. So now you have two characters riding Sophia at any given time, which helps the adventure feel a bit less lonely. Jason's developing relationship with Eve is pretty endearing too, and her presence does a lot to flesh out the lore of why Sophia III and Fred are even here in the first place. It all culminates in an entirely original true final level that lets you take an upgraded Sophia through a trippy gauntlet that tests you on all of the game's mechanic, before using it to fight an infected Sophia III with Eve trapped inside for the tense but impactful final boss. This was easily the highlight of Zero 1 for me and it made me very excited to see what Inti does with the sequels. Beyond the story, the presentation in Blaster Master Zero is great. The spritework manages to stay true to the art direction of the original Blaster Master, though it's also a lot more detailed and polished, with widescreen, a smooth framerate, and no flickering whatsover. While Naoki Kodaka's score for the original Blaster Master is a tough bar to meet considering it's one of the best on the NES, I'm also pleased to say that Blaster Master Zero has a really strong soundtrack with exciting chiptune techno that manages to capture that distinct Sunsoft energy.

Overall, Blaster Master Zero is a great reimagining of the original Blaster Master which expands on its mechanics, level design, and story in all the right ways. That being said, the fact that it's so reliant on that original game means I don't think it was fully able to establish a distinct individual identity yet, and the difficulty balancing could definitely use some work. It's a strong start for the trilogy though, and considering that Zero 2 and Zero 3 are apparently completely original, I'm excited to see which direction Inti Creates takes the series.

4/5 Stars

Blaster Master Zero 2

Blaster Master Zero 2 is an improvement on the original in pretty much every way, and shows Inti Creates charting an entirely new path for the series that I'm very much vibing with. The story follows right after the first entry as we learn that the mutant Jason defeating in the last game has infected Eve, so the two launch into space to find a possible cure. It's a solid premise since it means Zero 2 is going to be a much larger-scale planet-hopping adventure that can expand upon the world of Blaster Master Zero, introducing a variety of new planets and characters inspired by series from Sunsoft's past, including the more niche stuff like Ikki (Gonbei), Trip World (Kanna), and one of my all-time fighting games, Waku Waku 7 (Tesset). It's truly a love letter to the company's history, and it makes me happy that the folks at Inti Creates seem to be even bigger Sunsoft geeks than I am. The game also introduces a proper rival character in Leibniz, who lost his own support droid and wants to take it out on Jason and Eve, and I'm mixed on them. I found myself absolutely despising the guy, from their annoying boss fights to their irrational meddling in Jason's life, but I also can't say Inti didn't accomplish exactly what they were going for with this character. I've never seen a rival character this blatantly despicable, and Leibniz's sheer hater energy is almost charming in how over the top it is.

As for the gameplay, Zero 2 makes some pretty bold changes to the Blaster Master formula that I'd say work out for the better. Sophia's energy system has had a complete reworking, as it's now an energy bar that you can recover by dropping onto the ground from high up. It sounds weird at first, but it adds a unique element of resource management to the game since you can use special weapons more often as long as you're actively seeking out places to drop from. Her wall climb has also been replaced with a wall jump and I think that's for the better, it's a lot snappier in my opinion. The top-down Jason segments are what really got overhauled though, and generally for the better. The weapons have been rebalanced and all degrade with overuse encouraging to actively pace yourself, and you now have a counter move that feels great to pull off at the cost of enemies and bosses being far more aggressive. In general, I think Zero 2 is definitely a harder game than its predecessor since the Wave 8 weapon isn't as overpowered and most foes put up more of a fight, but it remains pretty fair the whole way through. Inti Creates finally struck a perfect difficulty balance, fixing my biggest issue with the first game.

The world and boss design are also pretty outstanding, albeit with one caveat. In a big departure from series tradition, each area now occupies its own planet meaning the interconnected world of the first game and the original Blaster Master isn't really a thing here. While I do miss the heavy sense of exploration that Zero 1 had, I do think the pros of this decision far outweigh the cons. Zero 2 being set on a bunch of different planets means the level variety is off the charts, with each area being a lot more engaging and complex than in the first game. From dodging sudden bamboo shoots popping out of the walls in Montoj, to solving strange puzzles in a trippy nature world, to dodging dimensional rifts that split a planet in half, there isn't a single weak stage in the bunch this time. In addition, being able to quickly hop from planet to planet seriously reduces backtracking, and the addition of smaller optional planetoids that hide collectibles gives the game more replay value. As for the bosses, there are a lot more Sophia-centric bosses this time around and I think that's for the better since they tend to be my personal favorites. The changes to the energy system means most of the Sophia fights have a great sense of verticality to them, and taking down these hulking monsters in your giant tank always feels awesome.

Going in, I'll admit that my biggest concern with Zero 2's story going in was that Eve being infected would mean she gets sidelined or damselfied but I couldn't be more. If anything, this is Eve's biggest role in the trilogy as she's constantly chiming in and interacting with the other characters, which in turn made her more endearing. I also really like her new mutated design, the cutesy body horror look really helps her stand out visually. But nothing prepared me for Zero 2's final area where Jason unleashes and gets petrified by a new multidimensional overlord, forcing you to play as Eve as she fights her way across a planet, scrounges up a new tank, reunites the aforementioned cast, and saves Jason all on her own while still suffering from the mutation virus. Compared to the power trip of Zero 1's final area, Zero 2's final area is more puzzle-focused as Eve's abilities are fairly limited requiring you to use your wits to survive, but it all leads to an absolutely wild final boss and one of the most intense button-mashing sequences this side of The Legendary Starfy. It's an incredible conclusion to an already fantastic action platformer, and finally seeing the series' deuteragonist get her time in the spotlight was just the icing on the cake.

Overall, Blaster Master Zero 2 is everything a good sequel should be. It expands on the Blaster Master formula mechanically, boasts a stellar lineup of levels and boss fights, bumps up the visuals and music substantially, increases the scope with its story, and ends on an incredible final act that gives me everything I didn't know I needed. It left such a high bar that I just couldn't see how any sequel could possibly improve on it, and uh, spoiler alert, it didn't.

5/5 Stars

Blaster Master Zero 3

Blaster Master Zero 3 is often regarded as one of Inti Creates' best games, held up right alongside Mega Man Zero 3 and Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. And now that I've played it... oh man, I hate having to say this. I think this might be my least favorite of the trilogy, and by a wide margin too.

From a story level, Zero 3 has me pretty split. It takes a lot of bold swings, but in turn, it does a lot that I like and a lot that I'm not huge on. Once again, it follows right after the previous game as Jason and Eve finally arrive at Planet Sophia only to get immediately arrested. Jason quickly breaks out only to learn Eve has disappeared, and just to twist the knife further, he discovers that Leibniz is now hanging out in Sophia. I'm not huge on this trilogy's tendencies to just immediately override the happy ending of the previous game, but at least Eve's infection felt like the natural consequences of her and Jason's actions in Zero 1. This just felt like convoluted conflict for the sake of it, and the fact that it means Eve got completely sidelined for this whole game right after her playable role leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. On the other hand, though, Leibniz as a partner actually kinda ruled. For most of the game, they kinda just act like a petty child content to sit back and watch Jason flail about, and their constant snark throughout the adventure is admittedly a lot more enjoyable and sharply-written than most of Eve's dialogue in the previous games. I also kinda liked how increasingly desperate Jason got over the course of Zero 3, you can tell he was just completely fed up with being constantly dealt a bad hand. The main duo pretty much carried the story for me, since the actual main plot just felt too convoluted.

Thankfully, in terms of the moment-to-moment gameplay, Zero 3 is pretty much on par with its predecessor if not slightly better. Sophia plays pretty much the same with a few quality of life improvements, like the ability to fast travel between save points (thank god), having a separate energy bar for the various shot types, and giving Jason a hover pack to make those platforming segments way less punishing. The real changes are with the top-down segments, and for the most part, they're all fantastic. Jason now has a dash which allows him to quickly get out of the way of enemy fire and speed through the dungeons faster, and instead of having eight weapons that you progressively unlock as your power increases, you now have five weapons that you always have access to and can level up on your own. This is a great change since the game can now make proper use of all of your weapons and losing a single bit of power doesn't feel as crippling anymore, though it comes at the cost of your energy guard now being made temporary. I'm not huge on this, especially since if you lose your energy guard it respawns in the world forcing you to recollect it. I also found Zero 3 to be easily the hardest game of the trilogy, but not entirely in a fun way. Enemies feel tankier in both modes, counter tells are much shorter and harder to notice, and bosses now have multiple health bars, it felt like Inti pushed the needle too far in the other direction here.

But I think the biggest downgrade coming off of Zero 2 was the level design. Zero 3 takes place almost entirely on Planet Sophia and brings back the more metroidvania-esque design of the first game with far larger and more labyrinthe areas. This sounds awesome in theory, but in execution, ehh. The planets in Zero 2 were super creative and varied, but now, most of the locations in Planet Sophia feel like the same mechanical environments with a different color palette. The only exceptions are the two areas to not take place on the planet, but that's because they're both reused from previous games (Stranga, all of Zero 1). The layout of each area is also a lot more disjointed with walls, tunnels, and rifts making it hard to just explore without abusing the fast travel, and it doesn't help that so much of each area is left inaccessible on the first visit meaning Zero 3 has one hell of an endgame item cleanup. Speaking of rifts, the main gimmick of Zero 3 is that you can now enter these superdimensional portals to travel around, but I'm not huge on that either. Most of the superdimensional areas look pretty much the same regardless of which location you're in which only further reduces the feeling of variety. But easily my least favorite thing in Zero 3 are the Sophia Force Bases, which are randomly generated top-down dungeons with brutal tanky enemies that you can (and are encouraged to) skip with superdimensional portals. It's like the cyberspace system in Mega Man Zero 3 but bafflingly flipped on its head, and I had no interest in engaging with most of these unless I really needed to. In general, the sheer amount of fluff and messiness in the map design means this is the only game in the trilogy I didn't bother to 100%.

When I was playing Blaster Master Zero 2, I couldn't keep myself unglued from the screen, everything was so perfectly calibrated. But with Zero 3, I actively found it hard to keep playing. Dealing with the sloppy level design, the tanky enemies, the constant cheap deaths, it just wasn't fun. Remember when I complained about Area 7 from the first game? Yeah, every level in Zero 3 feels like Area 7. Eventually, it got to a point where dealing with the game's bullshit was too much and I just... dropped it, at least for now. I hear the finale was really good, it certainly sounds pretty cool from what I've seen of it, but when I was enjoying the gameplay this little I couldn't bring myself to see it through.

I don't want to say Zero 3 killed my interest in Blaster Master since I still really liked the first two games, nothing can take that away from me, but it was probably one of the most disappointing games I've played since Tears Of The Kingdom and the first time Inti Creates really let me down.

3/5 Stars

So yeah, that should be just about it for 2024. Quite the eventful year as far as my gaming library is concerned, but I'm ready to move forward to... Oh... So, umm, just at the last second, I got Mario & Luigi: Brothership as a gift. Guess I gotta start working on a review for it, get ready for a big one...

Top 15 Games Of 2024

Well, it's that time of the year again. I've played a lot of games in 2024, and now it's time to rank my favorites. Unlike last year, I really couldn't just leave it at 10 games, so this time, I picked a whopping 15 games that I want to shine a light on. But first, some honorable mentions:

HM. The games I'd probably have loved
Being a Mac user with only a Switch, there's always going to be a fair share of games that I'm not going to be able to play, and 2024 is no exception. So here's a short ode to the games I probably could've placed on this list if I was actually able to play them: 

Astro Bot: Yeah, this one's a given. The game that everyone's touting as a spiritual successor to the Mario Galaxy games and references niche Sony series like Ape Escape feels like it was made for me, but sadly, I don't have a PS5.

UFO 50: The concept of a fictional console with an entire in-universe game library is so cool. I'm still holding out for this one to get a console release someday.

Rabbit & Steel: I know some people who are going absolutely crazy over this one. As a bullet hell fan, it looks like a unique take on the formula, the artstyle is adorable, and the soundtrack's a real bop.

HM. The Non-2024 Games I Discovered
I also want to give a shout-out to the games that came out in the last two years that I just happened to get my hands on in 2024, because some of my favorite gaming experiences of the year were with the games that I just barely missed out on the first time. 

Freedom Planet 2: One of my new Top 5 favorite games of all time, Freedom Planet 2 gave me everything I could've wanted from a sequel and then some. It's double the length of the original, refines the gameplay to a razor sheen, vastly improves upon the storytelling, is stuffed to the gills with content, boasts some of the most gorgeous sprite art I've ever seen, and packs in an absolute behemoth soundtrack. It systematically checks off every single box of what I personally want in a game.

Spark The Electric Jester 3: Probably the most successful indie game I've seen so far in terms of capturing the freeform linear platforming of the Sonic Adventure games while still having its own feel. While it certainly has its rough edges, the movement in Spark 3 is an absolute joy and the sheer amount of fantastic levels across both the main campaign and the postgame still has me chipping away at it to this day.

Curse Crackers: Curse Crackers is the definition of "you didn't have to go this hard". What on the surface seems like a fairly basic GBC-inspired platformer gives way to some of the smoothest movement I've seen in a 2D platformer, a shockingly developed world with detailed lore and an incredible cast of characters, and an absurd amount of content ranging from collectibles to time attacks to secret levels to Fez-esque obscurities. Definitely the best impulse buy of the year.

Pizza Tower: What can I even say about Pizza Tower that hasn't already been said? This instant indie classic takes the strong groundwork that Wario Land 4 laid and really runs with it, making for a longer and stranger experience than its inspiration. It definitely has a bit of a learning curve, but once Pizza Tower really clicks, the chaotic movement, endearingly strange characters, and varied levels made for one of the most charming experiences I've played this year.

Vividlope: Vividlope may have released in 2023, but its Switch release this year came with a slew of QoL improvements that seem to have fixed pretty much all of its issues. It's an incredibly addictive and charming arcade puzzler with a ton of content squeezed into such a small package, but the real star of the show is Vividlope's adorable Dreamcast-inspired presentation that taps into a visual style that I'll always be a sucker for. More games like this please!

Okay, now, without further ado, let's get into my actual ranking:

15. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble

After countless mediocre Super Monkey Ball games, Banana Rumble is the return to form I've been waiting for. It may not fully recapture the magic of the original Gamecube entries, but it manages to forge its own unique magic with its more character-driven storytelling and the addition of the spin dash that makes speedrunning more fun than ever before. It's also worth noting just how much content this game has crammed into it, and it's still getting bigger and more polished through a steady stream of updates across the second half of the year. Banana Rumble feels like a real labor of love from Sega and RGG Studio in a way that I haven't really felt from Super Monkey Ball in so long.

14. Arzette: The Jewel Of Faramore

Arzette: The Jewel Of Faramore did something that I didn't think any game could do, it redeemed the Zelda CD-i games. It manages to perfectly replicate the look, feel, and sound of the CD-i while also being an actually polished, satisfying, and purposefully funny action platformer. Speaking of labor of loves, you can tell the team behind Arzette saw so much potential in Zelda CD-i, and they had the knowledge and the know-how to actually utilize that potential. Like with Cavern Of Dreams though, it was way too short and I definitely could've used more of it.

13. Celeste 64: Fragments Of The Mountain

Right at the start of 2024, the indie scene was blindsided by the sudden drop of a new Celeste game. In the grand scheme of things, Celeste 64 is a goofy little itch.io demo made in a week, and as such, it does have its fair share of jank. However, it still manages to do a remarkable job at translating the feel of Celeste into this 3D format, and the platforming still has a lot of fun movement tech in it. The package is also all tied together with an adorable N64-inspired visual style, and a charming coda that gives these characters the truly happy ending they kinda needed after the more downbeat Farewell.

12. Duelists Of Eden

Duelists Of Eden is more of an expansion than its own full-on sequel, but it gives fans of One Step From Eden what they've been wanting for a while, a multiplayer mode. Duelists does a great job at converting OSFE's gameplay to a more competitive format that really puts it more in line with its Battle Network inspiration, all the while tossing in more great new characters, plenty of cool indie cameos, and another roster of incredible music tracks from STEEL_PLUS.

11. Splatoon 3: Side Order

As someone who isn't exactly a huge fan of either Salmon Run or roguelikes, I'm still impressed with how well Side Order managed to combine them to create an incredibly replayable experience that I really enjoyed. It's forgiving enough that anyone can beat it for the first time with enough practice, but actually uncovering all of the DLC's secrets and unlockables will definitely be quite the challenge. I'm also glad to say that Side Order was a satisfying continuation of my beloved Octo Expansion, with more fun character interactions among Agent 8's gang, some interesting expansions to the Splatoon lore, and of course, another fantastic lo-fi and EDM soundtrack.

10. Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines

The first Grapple Dog was a fun but somewhat flawed little indie platformer, but Cosmic Canines is an incredible sequel that not only improves on all of the first game's issues but ranks as one of the most inventive platformers I've played all year. With a solid story that expands on the characters from the first game in some fun ways, a great second protagonist with a gameplay style just as fun if not even more enjoyable than the titular grapple dog, consistently inventive level design facilitated by the multiverse hopping premise, and another wonderful soundtrack makes for one hell of a glow-up.

9. Princess Peach Showtime

Despite its fairly simple gameplay, Princess Peach Showtime manages to get by through its aggressive amounts of charm. The fun variety of gameplay styles, consistently dynamic levels, solid exploration, and banger soundtrack make for a pretty fun 3D platformer on its own, but it's truly elevated by just how much love the developers clearly have for the medium of theater and how it shows in the sheer attention to detail every single stage has packed in. There's some real experimental PS2 game energy coming from Showtime and I'm all for it.

8. Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom

As someone who felt severely burnt by Tears Of The Kingdom, Echoes Of Wisdom managed to strike a strong balance between a more guided progression with stronger pacing and damn solid dungeons, and also packing in an open world that's a joy to explore along with the inventive emergent echo mechanic that feels just limited enough to be fun to mess around with. It's not one of the best entries in the series by any means, but it's the first Zelda in a while that actually feels like it lives up to the franchise's lofty standards.

7. Antonblast

Out of every game I played this year, Antonblast is the one that I have the most complicated relationship with. It offered me some of the most cathartic, stylish, thoroughly enjoyable platforming goodness I've experienced all year, with fun movement, wild levels and bosses, satisfying carnage-induced exploration, and fantastic visuals and music. But it also really put me through the ringer as I slowly learned to play by its rules, almost filtering me at several moments. And yet, as I look back on Antonblast, the game just looks better and better in my eyes, those rough edges all part of its scrappy charm. It's such a potent love letter to gaming as a medium and it shows in every frame.

6. Pepper Grinder

Pepper Grinder may be a bit too short, but for what it was, it's impeccably crafted. Each and every level stands out as fun and unique, the movement of drilling around at high speeds is perfectly tuned, the collectibles are fun and intuitive to discover, the bosses are a blast, and the intricate spritework and eclectic soundtrack are just unhinged to perfectly fit the game's chaotic mood. Pepper Grinder does exactly what it sets out to do and leaves you wanting more.

5. Super Mario Party Jamboree

Super Mario Party Jamboree marks the true return to form for the Mario Party series on pretty much every level. Strong board design that's equal parts fun, varied, and cruel. Genuinely interesting mechanical improves that add to the strategy of board gameplay rather than takes from it. A massive lineup of minigames and side modes that are, for the most fun, almost as fun as the main board mode. And a strong, surprisingly cohesive presentation with the best music the series has had in so long. The future of Mario Party as a series has truly never been brighter.

4. Penny's Big Breakaway

I mentioned that Princess Peach Showtime felt like a experimental PS2 game, but Penny's Big Breakaway absolutely lives and breathes the early 2000s. With a bright and poppy aesthetic, slightly jank movement with a huge skill ceiling, fun level design that encourages you to master said movement, wacky boss fights, and of course, a fantastic soundtrack, Penny's Big Breakaway packs in everything I love about 3D platformers as a genre. Right when it came out, I was sure this would be my favorite original game of the year, and yeah, that hasn't really changed.

3. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

I used to be on the "The Thousand Year Door is overrated" train, but the TTYD Remake did the unthinkable feat of fully converting me. This remake smartly picks and chooses the best elements of The Origami King and uses them to enhance TTYD in so many ways, from its gorgeous new visual coat of paint, to its vastly expanded soundtrack, to the removal of all the worst bits of backtracking, to Vivian's fixed characterization. TTYD Remake was the longest game I've beaten from this year, and yet my eyes were glued to the screen for the whole week I spent working my through it.

2. Sonic X Shadow Generations

As someone who's never played Sonic Generations prior to this year, this might as well be two entirely new games as far as I'm concerned, and I couldn't be happier with the result. Sonic Generations is easily one of the best 3D Sonic games with its addictively fast-paced gameplay, slick visuals, and incredibly well thought-out level design, but the fact that Shadow Generations manages to rival and even surpass it in some aspects is truly impressive coming off the heels of the lackluster Sonic Frontiers. I have no idea what happened in this game's development, but Sonic Team managed to make one hell of a comeback and put out their first genuinely GOTY-worthy package in over a decade.

1. Castlevania Dominus Collection

I tend to be a bit iffy when it comes to ranking compilations, but Castlevania Dominus Collection truly deserves its flowers for being one of the best compilations I've ever seen. This is the best way to play three of the best Castlevania games period (one of which is just straight-up one of my favorite games ever made), and it's all tied together with a cohesive, slick, feature-rich interface. But the true clincher is the fact that the madlads at M2 tossed in an entirely new Castlevania in Haunted Castle Revisited, a genuinely great 2D entry that truly solidifes Dominus Collection's spot as my favorite game of 2024.

And in case you're wondering about my favorite soundtracks of the year, here they are:

15. Metal Slug Tactics
14. Arzette: The Jewel Of Faramore
13. Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom
12. Haunted Castle Revisited
11. Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines
10. Splatoon 3: Side Order
9. Antonblast
8. Yars Rising
7. Super Mario Party Jamboree
6. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
5. Berserk Boy
4. Rabbit & Steel
3. Princess Peach Showtime
2. Penny's Big Breakaway
1. Duelists Of Eden

Overall, I thought 2024 was definitely one of the more interesting years in gaming as of late. Coming off the heels of 2023, we were all expecting something a bit more tame in terms of AAA gaming and that's exactly what we got. I can't exactly say this was a great year in that department, between the lack of heavy-hitters, the many layoffs and studio shutdowns, and the several high profile flops. But in terms of the kinds of games that I'm into, this year still had a lot to offer. From countless incredible indie games, to some of the strongest remasters and compilations we've seen in a while, to some of Nintendo's most experimental work since the start of the Switch era, to many long-awaited console re-releases, 2024 really did have a lot of gems for those who bothered to dig for them.