Mario Kart World Tracks Ranked

I've been wanting to make a track ranking for Mario Kart World ever since the game first came out, but I wanted to make sure I really knew what I was talking about first. Now that it's already been about a month since the game first released, I feel pretty confident in my ranking at the moment. I'll solely be ranking the tracks based on their VS versions, though I will mention any alternate variants they may have if necessary. Overall, I think Mario Kart World has one of the best track rosters in the series, barring a few weak links, and benefit from a more freeform design that gives most of them a lot more replay value. So without further ado, let's rank them:

30. Koopa Troopa Beach
Koopa Troopa Beach is sadly the one big misfire out of the 30 tracks in Mario Kart World. Koopa Beach 2 is a solid track in the original SNES game, but this iteration smoothens out the track design and removes the deep water pitfalls that you have to dodge rendering it as just a circle. I've seen some argue that KTB is this game's equivalent of Baby Park because of its simplistic layout, but it's so open that I don't think it plays well to chaotic item shenanigans which makes for a really boring track that doesn't take advantage of any of Mario Kart World's strengths. No parkour, no fun item play, and no interesting decision-making, it truly is just driving around in a circle for five laps. I do like the tropical dance party aesthetic but that can only do so much when the track is so boring to play.

29. Moo Moo Meadows
Moo Moo Meadows is definitely the most baffling addition conceptually. I get that Nintendo wanted to add the Cow as a playable character and needed an excuse to organically feature him in the world, but when we literally just had Moo Moo Meadows in the previous game, I'd rather they have just made a new farm track. Because outside of that one goofy cow bounce shortcut, I can't really say that Moo Moo Meadows feels like it fits World's movement very well, it's too open and barren. I'd even argue that this version of MMM is weaker than the MK8 version with a less pretty aesthetic and the removal of the big ramp near the end of the track. Moo Moo Meadows on its own is a fine track, for sure, but in the context of World, it's a track I never want to play.

28. Mario Bros Circuit
When MKW first came out, Mario Bros Circuit was quickly singled out as one of the best starting tracks for its unique Radiator Springs aesthetic and its variety of paths. However, the more I replay it, the more I actually find it pretty dull. The main path of Mario Bros Circuit has nothing going on at all, it's a wide empty road with very wide turns and no mandatory jumps at all. Compared to the tight layout of Toad Circuit in 7 or the way Mario Kart Stadium forces you to engage with all of 8's mechanics, Mario Bros Circuit feels too passive of a first track. You can mess around with the rail-grinding or gliding if you go off the beaten path, but it doesn't feel like this track drills those mechanics into your head because it's all optional. It also doesn't help that while the ending of MBC does have a bunch of neat alternate routes, the first 80% is still very linear and doesn't really have anything going on. So yeah, while I don't find Mario Bros Circuit bad per se, I do still find it pretty boring on replays and hard to go back to.

27. Desert Hills
Desert Hills is a weird sidegrade of a retro pick. I actually always liked Desert Hills for its catchy music, hilly terrain, SMB3-inspired visuals, and variety of Mushroom cuts and like half of those things are still intact. This iteration makes a lot of sacrifices with less hills, blander visuals, and most of the obstacles like the Angry Sun completely removed. However, I'd argue it makes up for this by adding a bunch of new elements. There are even more shortcuts than in the original track and not just Mushroom cuts too, the final stretch deviates into a bunch of cool different directions. And while the Angry Sun may be gone, the Tokotokos are a very charming new hazard that helps keep each lap in VS varied. It also helps that from a layout perspective, I do think Desert Hills is a bit more engaging than the other tracks in this part of the list so I can still enjoy this one even with its many compromises from the original.

26. Starview Peak
Man, Rosalina keeps being done dirty with her tracks, huh. I never hated Ice World even if I didn't find it especially good, but I was really hoping that Starview Peak with its gorgeous comet observatory theming would finally do her justice. Sadly, this track is probably even worse. You really don't spend much time inside the observatory, with the first half of the track being a basic Ice Ice Outpost clone with none of that track's shortcut potential, and the second half being a hyperspeed water-riding section that can be dumb fun but lacks any skill or mastery. This is one of those really wide tracks that doesn't give you much room to exploit the movement, and its short length means that it also feels like it isn't really able to explore its premise. Great vibes, but definitely one of the most underwhelming and undercooked courses in the game. 

25. Choco Mountain
Choco Mountain is definitely one of the weirdest and most polarizing tracks in Mario Kart World. Like Moo Moo Meadows, this track was just in the previous game, but unlike Moo Moo Meadows, it actually completely reimagines it to mixed results. Instead of being a simple chocolate-themed mountain, this is a heavy metal monster truck arena filled with mud and Charging Chucks. I do really appreciate how this iteration of the track commits to its new theming, especially with the cool visual of seeing how this track actually looks like a monster truck from afar. There are still plenty of cool (and powerful) shortcuts, and the Charging Chucks are really fun hazards to deal with. However, I do think that the original's pure chocolate theming still feels really novel and turning Choco into yet another stadium track makes it feel a bit less unique. But even more, so much of this track being covered in mud that slows you down makes it a fairly awkward driving experience at times reminiscent of Choco Island, and not in a good way. This is a fine track with more depth and interesting elements than most of the other low-tiers, but it just doesn't fully come together for me like I would've hoped.

24. Mario Circuit
When we all found out that one of the tracks was gonna be a fusion of the first three Mario Circuits, I think we all thought that it was gonna be the worst track of the game. But actually, I think Mario Circuit is pretty damn good and misses out on a lot of the pitfalls of SNES retros in prior games. I like how this track doesn't try to ape the Super Mario Kart artstyle, going for a more realistic circuit aesthetic that looks great. The fusion of the first three Mario Circuits means that there's a great sense of escalation as each section has tighter and tighter turns. And best of all, the Charge Jump allows you to hop over pretty much any border in the track which really allows for some crazy routing in Time Trials. So we end up getting a pretty engaging course that tests your driving skill quite well in its own unique way. My only two issues are that the big jump in Mario Circuit 2 has been neutered with its iconic corner cut removed, and that it's way too short as it ends in just over a minute.

23. Crown City
Crown City is the game's Tour-styled city track boasting multiple variants depending on which route you take, and a VS version that aims to fuse them all together. Visually, it's an incredibly dense and lively setting with soulful music and probably the best Free Roam in the game. Most of these individual variants are also really fun, between Crown City 1 having you hope across rooftops, Crown City 2 having you wallride through a tight alleyway, and Crown City 3 being a fun scenic beach drive. However, my problem with Crown City is that the route Nintendo picked for VS Mode is kind of underwhelming. Crown City 1 is mostly intact, but Crown City 2 is driving in reverse rendering most of its shortcuts useless, and Crown City 3 has been almost entirely cut. It feels like the VS version of Crown City, the primary iteration of this track, has less going on than the versions you play in the routes which is a real shame for what could've been one of the game's strongest courses.

22. DK Pass
DK Pass is one of the more mixed retros for me. I liked this track in the original game for its tight layout and solid hazards, and this version mostly keeps that intact. The first half of World's DK Pass is arguably better than the original with the feather allowing you to take some cool death-defying shortcuts, but the second half feels weirdly barren. The snowballs have been moved to the early part of the track so driving back down the pass has no stakes, and even worse, the snowmen peppering the final turn are completely gone. This is especially baffling since this game has snowmen NPCs so I don't know why they're not in this track. I'm also a bit mixed on the visual change. The shift to being a ski resort does look great, but it removes a bit of DK Pass's originality compared to DK Summit. But it does benefit free roam so I can't complain too much. Overall still a good track with some solid technical aspects, but not a home-run of an upgrade like I would've wanted.

21. Wario's Shipyard
Wario's Shipyard is right alongside Choco Mountain as the retro I'm the most split on. I love the original version of this track and I'd argue it's the best utilization of underwater driving in the entire series, so World bringing it back only to have you driving on top of the water the whole time sure was a choice. On its own merits, this is a fine track with a lot of cool shortcuts and alternate routes, and the stormy water does make this one of the more dynamic water-riding courses where there's never a point where you're not trying to get tricks. However, it does feel like a lot of the fun jumps and obstacles of the original were removed as a compromise, and the combination of bumping water and sharp turns really brings out the worst in the water-riding controls. I constantly find myself slipping around, bumping into stuff, missing tricks, it just feels a bit too unreliable for me to really enjoy mastering it.

20. Peach Stadium
Peach Stadium is a solid penultimate course that does a decent job at testing your skill with its fairly narrow layout, and I like how it visually reminds me quite a bit of the sleek look of Mario Kart 8. The infamous paperclip variants are pretty hilariously bad, but the VS Mode that I'll probably be playing the majority of the time is still plenty fun in its own right, bolstered by the colorful and grandiose setting, and celebratory music. However, what prevents Peach Stadium from ranking much higher for me is that it just doesn't make much use of World's movement. There is a fun upper path that does help you dodge the item chaos for a bit, but the second half of the track just has nothing going on making for a pretty unsatisfying ending to what's otherwise a solid course.

19. Peach Beach
Peach Beach surprised all of us when it turned into a surprise section track that opens up into a full resort after the first lap. But as a full track, it is a bit uneven in terms of quality. The first lap is basically just the Peach Beach we all know and love, but slightly worse since the rising tide doesn't feel as important and the Cataquacks are way easier to dodge. The second lap is easily the standout by putting you in what feels like this massive skate park filled with rooftops to trick off of and a variety of fun routes. But then the third lap ends with a pretty dull water-riding straightaway with not much to interact with. That second lap is so good that it pretty much carries the track for me, but the rest of it just isn't strong enough to carry it past 19th place for me.

18. Sky High Sundae
The original version of Sky High Sundae was probably my least favorite track in the entire series, lacking so much of the polish you would expect from Nintendo. But when it returned in World, it quickly became apparent that it was meant to be in this game from the start. This version of Sky High Sundae not only looks way better than the 8DX version with less saturated colors, but it boasts far more alternate routes, a smoother design, a camera that actually works, and none of the bizarre floaty physics that hampered the original. It utilizes the wall-ride and rail-grind especially well essentially serving as the introduction to the variety of track-breaking shortcuts World has to offer, though it does still suffer a bit from its simplistic oval-shaped layout. Still, easily the biggest glowup in the game.

17. Wario Stadium
Wario Stadium is the second biggest glowup in Mario Kart World, though. I never hated the original version but most will argue that it was way too long for its own good and the various bumps didn't mean much in a game with no trick system. This iteration of Wario Stadium cuts the track by like a third and implements a ton of fun wall-grinds, trick ramps, and shortcuts to fully put World's mechanics to great use. However, I do think I wouldn't have minded if this version used the original layout because it honestly kinda left me wanting more, especially with the smoothed-out layout that lacked some of the original's more punishing turns. With how good World's movement is and how well this remake takes advantage of it, I do genuinely think that a more accurate recreation would still be really good if not even. better than what we already got.

16. DK Spaceport
DK Spaceport is a very fun finale to the Mushroom Cup, especially in how it puts all the skills you've learned to the test in a series of fun trick-ramp, rail-grinding, and wall-ride courses. I also love how this track tells a story as you chase Guard Kong up the structure ending in what almost feels like a boss fight. From an aesthetic standpoint, it's a fun modernization of the visual style that defined the original arcade game, and overall this is a very fun and replayable course with a lot of spectacle. That being said, it's hard to deny the simplistic layout of DK Spaceport with it being primarily straightaways and 180-degree turns and compared to other section tracks, it can feel a bit one-note visually. Courses like Mount Wario or Maka Wuhu are constantly shaking up the scenery but DK Spaceport commits to a single idea the entire time which is a double-edged sword. It means that this is a fully realized track, but one that can risk feeling a tad repetitive as well.

15. Salty Salty Speedway
Salty Salty Speedway is a solid water-riding course that lets the player hop between several routes and levels. The tight Venice-inspired canals can allow for some pretty cramped and chaotic races, some of the wall-rides on the higher levels feel very satisfying to pull off even if they're not necessarily faster, and the optimal routes do encourage you to make the most of all of this track's various layers. That being said, I won't deny that the water-riding section is easily the most boring part of the track to race on due to its flat surface, and unless you have a route planned out from the start, it's pretty hard to get out of it if you happen to fall in. Definitely one of the tougher courses to get into, but it can be satisfying once you've mastered its many ultra-precise shortcuts.

14. Faraway Oasis
Faraway Oasis is an incredibly dense track that doesn't settle on the same idea for too long. From jumping across a rocky cliffside to going down a river to barely hanging onto a Koopa Cape-style waterfall, there's a lot going on in terms of Faraway Oasis's layout that makes for a fun race course. It may not be as dense with shortcuts as some of World's other tracks, but there are plenty of clever decisions to make. The river section in particular is actually brilliant since you can risk going for that tricky rail-grind to the right at the cost of being forced onto the slower route if you fail, or play it safe and simply go left to the safer route. And that feather cut at the end is so satisfying to pull off. The only thing really keeping this track from being a Top 10 contender is the lack of animal hazards, especially compared to the other savannah routes. Otherwise, this is an incredibly well-designed track even if it's a bit on the subtle side.

13. Dandelion Depths
I'll get this out of the way, Dandelion Depths' layout isn't the best. Its few alternate routes are generally slower than racing the track normally, and it doesn't really pick up until the second half. That second half is really fun though, between the water pool section that forces you to find the best line to keep up your momentum with tricks and the grand finale that has you boosting up a steep slope, but overall there are other tracks with more interesting and replayable layouts. So why is Dandelion Depths this far up then? Well, it's pretty much entirely because of the presentation. The exterior reminiscent of Steam Gardens already looks great, but the cave interior has this gorgeous bioluminescent look that stands out as one of the most visually-striking locations in any Mario Kart game. And the music is easily one of my favorite tracks in the game for how it blends woodwinds with a chill-inducing guitar solo. Sometimes the visuals can totally carry a track for me and Dandelion Depths is a great example of how.

12. Cheep Cheep Falls
Cheep Cheep Falls is probably my favorite water-riding stage in the game because it really takes advantage of this mode's slippery handling to create a unique experience. The vast majority of this track is taken up by a chaotic ride down some rapids where it feels like you're constantly struggling to wrangle the controls. But unlike in say Wario's Shipyard, I'd argue the loose controls actually benefits this track as it adds to the element of chaos that the rapids section tries to cultivate. Even before the rapids section, the intense music and tight layout makes for a really fast-paced and frenetic track unlike anything else in the game, and I'm all for it. The autumn/Japan-styled theming is also very cool and enhances the track for me, and there are a lot of really subtle but brutal shortcuts that make this easily one of the toughest courses to master.

11. Airship Fortress
Airship Fortress has always been one of my favorite tracks in the series, and it is still very good here. It's a borderline shot-for-shot remake that shows Nintendo knew that the track didn't really need much improvement. Its tight layout is a great fit for World, and there's just enough rail-grinding additions to make the track feel like it's able to take advantage of World's mechanics. However, I do these rail-grinds kinda hamper the track a bit. The entire first half of the course can be very easily skipped by grinding on the sidelines, and it's the fastest route too. And while this is very fun to pull off, it also means that you're skipping past most of the obstacles, particularly the Banzai/Bomber Bills and the Rocky Wrenches. Those were some of my favorite hazards in the series too so the fact that this version encourages you to not engage with them holds this remake back for me compared to the original.

10. Boo Cinema
Similarly to Faraway Oasis, Boo Cinema is a more subtle track in terms of its layout, lacking too many crazy bits of tech or hazards to contend with. And while that may be underwhelming for some, I actually found more to like about Boo Cinema the more I played it. Its narrow layout is great for allowing for some pretty chaotic races and there are a lot of subtle cuts like bumps in the track that allow for quick wall-rides, and the giant film reels hugging the inner turns you can use as a speed boost as long as you can judge the direction they're spinning. And of course, I can't go without mentioning this track's incredible haunted cinema theming between the catchy ragtime music and the cool sepia filter whenever you enter the film. Boo Cinema is a testament to how even the more simplistic track layouts can be enhanced by World's mechanics.

9. Toad's Factory
Similarly to Airship Fortress, Toad's Factory is a very shot-for-shot remake with only a few extra alternate routes added. Not every one of these alternate routes are inherently faster, but there are some fun ones like the girder route near the end of the track. Visually, I'd say this version of Toad's Factory is a solid upgrade since it puts even more detail into showing how item boxes are created which I think is really cool, and dealing with the various conveyor belts is as fun as ever. My one gripe is the fact that the boxes that served as hazards in the first half are completely gone which is a bit of a shame, but it's a really small nitpick. Otherwise, this is still one of the series' best tracks and I'm glad it finally got a remake.

8. Shy Guy Bazaar
Shy Guy Bazaar is a track that feels perfect for Mario Kart World's mechanics, already boasting a lot of alternate routes that had you hopping across rooftops. But this remake adds even more alternate routes to the point where I'm still discovering new ones, from hidden ramps buried in the destructible objects, to a secret upper path outside the bounds of the course, there's a lot to discover here. Similarly to Salty Salty Speedway, I do think some of the routes here require a bit too much setup at the risk of missing out of large chunks of the track if you mess up, but it's nowhere near as noticeable here since Shy Guy Bazaar is still a pretty fun course even if you stick to the bottom route. I also can't go without bringing up the awesome variation that has you traveling inside Daisy's Palace which was such a cool secret to find. In general, the way this remake blends influences from both Sarassaland and Subcon is so cool, even if I do still think the original looks a bit more visually striking with how it's perpetually set at night. Shy Guy Bazaar in the daytime just doesn't hit the same.

7. Dry Bones Burnout
For a while, I was pretty adamant that Dry Bones Burnout would be my favorite track in the game, and it is still very good. The Dia De Los Muertos aesthetic is such a cool take on a Dry Bones-themed stage, the music is an absolute bop, the turns are fairly tight, and it boasts a fun two-tiered layout that allows for a lot of different paths. I especially love the new lava mechanic in World in which you can boost through the lava with a mushroom, and its put to great use her with several fun potential Mushroom cuts. However, despite the massive amount of paths in Dry Bones Burnout, I do think this track suffers a bit from having such an overtly obvious optimal route. I find myself instinctively taking the same path every race since it's the fastest and not especially hard, which means this track ended up getting a bit more repetitive than some of the other high-tier tracks in World, especially with the lack of hazards.

6. Whistlestop Summit
Whistlestop Summit seemed like a pretty basic rail-grinding tutorial at first, but it's actually way more dynamic than it initially seems. There are a lot of ways to go fast in Whistlestop Summit, from bouncing between rails and walls, to spamming forward tricks on the straighter rails, but there are even some inventive hazards like a rail that locks you into taking a wide turn and a train that can obstruct your path if you're not fully aware of your surroundings. The final stretch in particular is flowing with various potential routes including some especially daring rail jumps. Overall Whistlestop Summit has a skill ceiling that's through the roof and is incredibly rewarding to master, while also allowing for pretty varied races. And the music is great too, but that's a given. 

5. Bowser's Castle
Bowser's Castle is another track that really rose in the ranks over time. Initially, it seemed fairly underwhelming due to its lack of hazards compared to other Bowser Castles. There are no Thwomps or firebars, just a few lava bubbles and the occasional meteor. But where this track lacks in hazards, it more than makes up for in layout, shortcut potential, and atmosphere. The opening section is filled with potential routes of varying difficulties and leads to this great risk/reward aspect to planning out the fastest route without screwing up, and the hyperspeed second half is not only tense and challenging on its own merits but also boasts some daring and satisfying shortcuts. As a matter of fact, this track has not one but two of the hardest and most iconic cuts in the entire game. But beyond just the layout, the hellish lava-storm atmosphere coupled with the heavy thrash music gives this Bowser's Castle such a tense, frenetic, and chaotic vibe that I like a lot.

4. Dino Dino Jungle
Dino Dino Jungle was a track I always liked, but the version of World made me love it. The shift to a Jurassic Park theming is so unique, and it allows the dinosaurs to play an even bigger role. There's a lot more different dinos here and they move around throughout a VS race making each race feel truly unique. And in Time Trials, they're always in the perfect spot to force you to adapt your route. While I can't say this is one of the best tracks in terms of utilizing World's mechanics, it absolutely stands out as one of if not the most chaotic course for racing which I think is just as important.

3. Rainbow Road
Mario Kart World's Rainbow Road is pretty polarizing and I can totally see why. On one hand, it's a gargantuan four-minute-long spectacle of a course that feels like the fullest realization of the approach Mario Kart 64 took to its Rainbow Road. It's not especially hard, but it is a gorgeous victory lap with a chill-inducing score that is constantly showing you new things the whole way through, ratcheting up the tension with each section. From the surprise water-riding bit, to the awesome space station area that feels like a redemption of MK8's Rainbow Road, to the climactic finale where you see all the friends you met along the way. But on the other hand, World's Rainbow Road isn't especially hard like Wii's version, nor is it as tightly-paced as 7's version. I don't think this is a track you can really grind out like many of the others in World due to its length and lack of alternate routes. And yet, I still love this Rainbow Road because it always reminds me why I love this game. It's such an immersive audiovisual feast that truly feels like a celebration not just of your achievements in the context of Mario Kart World, but a celebration of a new console generation. In such a tense, tight, and chaotic Mario Kart game that is constantly forcing me to make split-second decisions, World's Rainbow Road gives me a chance to breathe and soak in the game's gorgeous visuals.

2. Great ? Block Ruins
My Top 2 picks are pretty close together because they both have very similar strengths. Great ? Block Ruins is one of the toughest tracks in the game even from a casual standpoint with its tight turns and myriad of pitfalls, but once you factor in its massive amount of routes and setups, it gets even more fun to mess around in. Like with Bowser's Castle, this track has two of the game's most satisfying shortcuts to nail especially that infamous ring jump. But even beyond that, the open area midway through the track branches out into so many different routes most of which are viable that it allows for a level of freedom that makes each race feel fresh. This is one of those tracks that I just don't think is gonna get gold because there are so many valid routes to take through it, and the level of risk involved in many of its shortcuts means it requires a level of foresight that I find really engaging. It truly is a contender for the best track in the game, and yet...

1. Acorn Heights
Acorn Heights basically does everything Great ? Block Ruins does, but even better. The entire track is nonstop constant decision-making and despite its gargantuan amount of paths, pretty much all of them are viable for one reason or another. But because of how many of these paths lead into the next part of the track, you really have to plan ahead and be precise with your rail hops and tricks or else you will fly into a wall or off the stage. This is an unforgiving track for those who want to take its many shortcuts, and that's not even mentioning the giant acorn hazard that can ruin your plans if you don't adapt, but pulling off a clean run feels so damn good. I also need to praise Acorn Heights' atmosphere, between its gorgeous forest setting and lovely Celtic-inspired music. It takes everything I already loved about Maple Treeway and Wild Woods' aesthetics and amps it up even more. This is an immaculately designed and infinitely replayable Mario Kart track on every level and easily stands out as my favorite in Mario Kart World.

Donkey Kong Country Returns Is Better Than I Remembered

I've talked a lot about the Donkey Kong Country games on this blog before, but there's one entry that I've always kinda neglected and that's DKC Returns. I always liked Returns but I was pretty sure that it was my least favorite of the five mainline games, since it didn't have the vibes of the SNES trilogy nor the polish of Tropical Freeze. It was a bit rougher around the edges in terms of its difficulty, and felt like Retro Studios was just trying to find their footing and bring the series back to its roots during a fairly experimental period. But recently, I decided to replay Returns just for the hell of it after primarily replaying the SNES games for the last few years, and it blew me away. I truly forgot just how masterfully Retro Studios designs 2D platformers, and despite previously remembering Returns to be a fairly derivative game, it's got a lot more sauce than I gave it credit for.

As far as the movement goes, I can't say Returns feels as tight as Tropical Freeze but it still feels pretty nice and flinging yourself around with the roll feels pretty great. I personally don't mind the infamous waggle controls much but there are plenty of ways to circumvent them in 2025. But where Returns really excels for me is in the level design which is consistently tight throughout. DKC has always had this great sense of flow and pacing to its levels, and Returns nails that pacing right from the start. Bopping across enemies and dodging obstacles always feels great, and there's a fun sense of exploration with the sheer amount of collectibles in each level. And from the Cave world onward, I'd say Returns truly excels and even surpasses the SNES games. I adore all the chaotic minecart levels in World 4, World 5 is filled with satisfying pure platforming and is capped off by a tense climax, and the Factory world especially is just nonstop banger stages from start to finish, easily rivaling Tropical Freeze's final world as my favorite in a DKC game. I remember the levels in Returns being less dynamic and creative as the ones in Tropical Freeze and that is true to an extent, but they're still immaculately designed and show off Retro Studios' signature high production values on full display.

One of my biggest gripes with DKC Returns was its difficulty, but honestly, I think that's mostly because the last time I played this game was as a kid. Upon revisit, I think most of the pure platforming stages outside of a few exceptions like Tidal Terror and Red Red Rising are tough but fair, and scale up at a natural pace. The Rocket Barrel and Mine Cart stages are somewhat held back by only giving you a single hitpoint which is especially glaring when compared to Tropical Freeze, but they're so damn fun and checkpoints are still pretty frequent that I still find them thoroughly enjoyable. The one area that I still feel is too hard for its own good are the bosses, which are often fairly lengthy and fast while also lacking checkpoints. This is an issue in Tropical Freeze as well but that game has more genuinely great bosses, where the only standout in Returns for me is Colonel Pluck.

Beyond that, I think a lot of the issues that many Donkey Kong Country fans have with Returns just don't bother me that much, or are even perks. Like the lack of Animal Buddies aside from Rambi isn't really an issue for me since I don't like the Animal Buddies much as they often felt like handicaps in the SNES games. Rambi only shows up in four stages in Returns but he's such a power trip that I'm always excited to see him, compared to DKC2 where I dread having to play as Squawks or Enguarde. The same applies to Returns' lack of water levels though I don't think this is as controversial of a take. The lack of K Rool also doesn't bother me much as while I don't think Tiki Tong is that great of a villain, I love the concept of the Tiki Tak Tribe being this force that turns the entire island against DK. They lend DKC Returns a lonely atmosphere that sticks out to me even compared to the SNES games. 

And speaking of which, this was probably the biggest surprise for me when it came to Returns. I always thought of this game as feeling pretty derivative in terms of its visuals and sound, but I truly don't know how I ever thought that. DKC Returns' world is incredibly rich and detailed, with each level naturally transitioning into the next and telling a complete story solely through the environmental details. There's a reason why finding DK Island frozen in the next game hit so hard, but Retro Studios put so much care into detailing its ecosystem in this game. The visuals are obviously stellar for the Wii, but what really stuck out to me is the lighting. Most of DKC Returns has this characteristically dark shading to it that helps give the game a more moody feel, especially in some of the bleaker areas like the Cliff and especially the Volcano. 

This is amplified by Kenji Yamamoto's pretty melancholic score which remixes many of the tracks from the original DKC in a more dramatic fashion. I've seen this soundtrack get a ton of flack for reusing too many of its tracks from older games, but I honestly think most of the remixes in DKC Returns are superior to their SNES counterparts, and many of the new tracks like Tidal Terror, the Rocket Barrel themes, Rickety Rails, Feather Fiend, Furious Fire, Sticky Situation, Mast Blast, and Sloppy Sands do a lot to round out the soundtrack. And that's also not to mention the tracks like Music Madness, King Of Swing, and Muncher Marathon that take bits and pieces of the original score and make something entirely new out of them. I love David Wise's music as much as the next guy, but just like with DKC3, I think passing off Returns' OST just because it's not made by him is pretty unfair. While the SNES games are noteworthy for their pensive and surreal atmospheres, and Tropical Freeze stands out for its detailed nature and expressive soundtrack, I think DKC Returns manages to have a uniquely moody atmosphere of its own. You can really sense a lot of Retro Studios' Metroid DNA in this game, even moreso than in Tropical Freeze, and I think that's really cool.

However, this does lead into my other remaining gripe with DKC Returns and that's the fact that we still don't have a definitive version of the game. For me, the Wii version is still the king despite its motion controls and lower resolution. The 3DS version does add button controls but the weaker visuals and 30fps performance hold it back for me. The HD version should have been a home run, but Nintendo made the baffling fumble of handing it over to Forever Entertainment who naturally fudged it up. So while the HD version does have both button controls and a cleaner resolution, it suffers from framerate dips, broken multiplayer, and worst of all, godawful lighting that ruins the mood of the original game. As I mentioned, the darker shading of DKC Returns is such a core part of its visual identity to me, so the HD version making everything super bright is such a colossal misfire that I'd still rather play the Wii version in Dolphin with waggle tied to a button for my ideal Returns experience. Sadly, after two remakes, I don't think we'll ever get another chance at a perfect version of DKC Returns and that really sucks considering how good this game is at its core.

So this leaves an interesting question: Is Donkey Kong Country Returns still my least favorite game in the quintology? Honestly, no, not anymore. DKC Returns' flaws are fairly obvious and its longer length means it's not quite as replayable as the SNES games, but the highs it reaches with its level design and visuals far surpass its predecessors for me. At the very least, I think I'd rank Returns over the first two SNES games, as DKC1 while replayable is still way too short and basic, and DKC2 while occasionally brilliant has way too many Animal Buddy stages and difficulty spikes I dread. While not as refined as its sequel, I think Donkey Kong Country Returns holds up far better than I initially remembered and still stands out as one of the best platformers on the Wii.

4.5/5 Stars

Mario Kart World: Quality Over Quantity?

Sorry it's been a while since I made a post on here, but that's mostly because I've been busy playing my new Switch 2. It's been great, genuinely, I know it's a pretty big hotbed for controversy for a number of reasons, but I feel like I've really been getting my money's worth. It has some welcome improvements over the original Switch in terms of hardware feel and its performance improvements for Switch 1 games, and some of the new features like the mouse controls are surprisingly fun to use. I got to experience the next two chapters of Deltarune which were absolute masterpieces, finally got into F-Zero GX thanks to the Gamecube NSO, and plan to revisit Tears Of The Kingdom with its improved resolution and performance to see if maybe I was a bit too harsh on it. It's been so long since I was hit with the excitement of a new console launch, and it still feels like I've barely scratched the surface of this neat little device.

But of course, the star of the show is Mario Kart World, the big launch title and the first new console Mario Kart game since 2014. Add in the fact that Nintendo thought the sheer amount of effort put into World meant it deserved to be priced at a whopping $80, and yeah, expectations are very high. Thankfully, I'm glad to say that I absolutely loved Mario Kart World. I wouldn't say it's worth the full $80, but as a part of the bundle, it's definitely one of the best launch titles Nintendo has ever made between its gorgeous visuals, variety of modes, and mechanically-rich gameplay. But where I start to become conflicted is when I start comparing Mario Kart World to its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Because there are moments when Mario Kart World completely trounces any prior entry in the series by a country mile, but as a complete package, it could use some work.

So here's the thing with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I've gone on record saying that it's my favorite Mario Kart game and it probably still is, but that's primarily due to how accessible and content-rich it is. At this point, 8 Deluxe has a whopping 96 tracks, many of which being really high quality, and a bevy of options including item customization, a jukebox, robust player stats, five different battle modes, the list goes on. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe truly offers everything one could want from a kart racer and its simple controls and smooth game feel mean that anyone I show the game is able to quickly get to grips with it. In contrast, World only has 30 proper tracks albeit alongside the 100+ routes connecting them all, and it lacks a lot of the options and convenience its predecessor had. There are only two item sets in VS, only two battle modes, no 200cc, no lap records or going backwards in Time Trial, restrictive online settings, and several characters are unlocked through one of the worst RNG gacha mechanics I've ever seen in a game. Mario Kart World is by no means lacking in content, not even close, but it feels like some of the little things that prior games is missing from it.

But in terms of the core gameplay of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, I'm honestly kinda bored with it? Like, I can acknowledge that it feels incredibly smooth to play, but it's almost too smooth. Too easy to control. The AI is super generous even in the higher speed classes, and turning is so tight that not a single track gave me any difficulty even when I was playing the game for the first time. Some of the BCP tracks do admittedly have slightly sharper turns, but that feels more like an accidental byproduct of the tracks being ported from Tour than an intended difficulty spike. I love that MK8 Deluxe is so accessible that most of my friends can play it, but I'm starting to feel like I want more from my kart racing games, which I suppose is natural after over a decade of playing the same one. As you can probably tell, I've been getting into some of the stranger and more technical kart racers out there like Ring Racers, Sonic Riders, and Bomberman Fantasy Race and I've grown to absolutely adore them. So now going back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it almost feels like I'm playing on autopilot by comparison. Even some of the earlier entries like Double Dash, DS, and Wii can still give me a run for my money, but Mario Kart 8 just doesn't. It's a great game, but I just want something with a bit more substance, a bit more sauce.

And this is where Mario Kart World truly excels for me. Mario Kart World is the most mechanically-rich game in the series and it's not even close. You have the ability to charge up a jump, grind across rails, wall ride, do multiple directional aerial tricks in a row, bounce off of rival racers' heads, and so much more. There's Wave Race-style jetskiing with its own complex trick system, more freeform gliding akin to how it was in Mario Kart 7, physics-based collisions like in Double Dash, and it all makes for a game that feels amazing to play. Best of all, the track layouts do a fantastic job at facilitating the use of this new tech, often being far more open-ended and sprawling than you'd expect from a traditional Mario Kart track, boasting so many shortcuts that we're still finding new ones over a week after launch. It feels like you have to make so many more decisions while you play, there's so much more to consider and you need to plan out your path through each track more deliberately.

In addition, Mario Kart World is legitimately tough in a lot of ways. While the drifting still feels great, it's a bit looser than it was in Mario Kart 8, so you need to commit to your drift a bit earlier than you might be used. For as counterintuitive as this might sound, I love that I have to put a bit more effort into drifting because drifting in MK8 just felt too mindless. Beyond that, the AI is way more aggressive this time around. I found myself having to content with a lot more blue shells than I used to and I'll admit that it caught me off-guard at first. But as I got to grips with World's item system, I actually quite like the item balancing in World. It's certainly more intense, but unlike in say Mario Kart Wii, you have more tools for dealing with the deadlier items like the Blue Shell and the aforementioned physics-based collision system means getting hit doesn't completely bring you to a stop. The level of challenge in Mario Kart World is pretty much perfect, the closest thing we've seen to Double Dash in terms of difficulty balancing in my opinion.

There's a lot of other things to love about Mario Kart World too, though. As I said, I think the track design is overall stellar with only a few low points. Dry Bones Burnout, Great ? Block Ruins, Shy Guy Bazaar, Dino Dino Jungle, Toad's Factory, Boo Cinema, Cheep Cheep Falls, Dandelion Depths, Acorn Heights, and of course the fantastic iterations of Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road, there's a lot of heavy-hitters here. The routes are fun for the variety of hazards and cool course variations they offer, Knockout Tour is an instant classic mode for its tense and frantic item play, and the new Balloon Battle ruleset might be the best one to date. I adore how low stakes Free Roam is, encouraging you to explore outside the bounds of each track just to see what you can find. It's purely driven by your own curiosity rather than a massive checklist like so many other open world games (I do think the map could be a bit more detailed though). And of course, the presentation is stellar. There's an incredible attention to detail in terms of the world design, the character animation is some of the most expressive in the franchise, the colors are super vibrant, and the soundtrack is stellar between the catchy original tracks and the whopping 200+ remixes you can listen to in Free Roam.

But then that brings us back to Mario Kart 8. I recently replayed a bit of Mario Kart 8 with some friends and it stunned me how less engaging it felt compared to World, and it's in a lot of ways too. Obviously, the lack of all that movement tech was sorely missed but even the track design felt so much more restrictive. That's obviously not to say MK8's movement and tracks are bad, far from it. There are still a lot of incredible tracks in 8 and I stand by praise towards how smooth the controls are. But at that moment, playing both games back to back made it abundantly clear how much more engaged I was with World's mechanics, my neurons were firing on all cylinders with World, but with 8, I was right back to that mindless slump. But it's not just the gameplay and tracks that felt less exciting, the visuals did too! I used to think Mario Kart 8 stood up as one of the most gorgeous games Nintendo has ever made for its more hyper-realistic environments, but coming off the heels of the far more colorful and expressive World, Mario Kart 8 looks kinda muted and stiff by comparison. I do really love the more slick and futuristic overall aesthetic that MK8 has and the soundtrack is obviously still pure distilled perfection, but beyond that, the less stylized art direction is really starting to show its flaws.

And yet, it feels like despite how tired I've grown with it, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe always just ended up being the best Mario Kart game by default. Double Dash has more fun item play and vibrant visuals, but it lacks a single-player VS Mode and only has 16 tracks, unlike Mario Kart 8. Mario Kart DS has the cool mission and battle modes and fun controls, but its retro courses suck, unlike Mario Kart 8. Mario Kart Wii has top-tier nitro tracks, but it looks ugly and the item balance sucks, unlike Mario Kart 8. I can't say there's much that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe does that was truly exceptional compared to any other game in the series, it's just a really refined and content-rich game on every level with so few holes I could poke in it. But Mario Kart World feels different, because even though it has its fair share of glaring flaws just like all the other Mario Kart games prior to 8, the heights it manages to reach in terms of its mechanics, track design, challenge level, mode variety, musical ambition, and visual presentation is so far beyond any other game in the series.

So then, that begs the question. What's more important? Is it the pure quality and depth of Mario Kart World's design, or the quantity and robustness of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's content? For some, this would probably be an easy answer, but for me, I can't really say yet. This is mostly because Mario Kart World literally just came out so there's plenty of room for it to get plenty of updates that end up fixing most if not all of my gripes with the game. After all, that is what happened with Mario Kart 8, which I'd argue at launch was way worse than Mario Kart World at launch. So... uhh... sorry to cop out like this, but I'll get back to you in about a year. At the moment, I'll say that 8 Deluxe and World are close to tied for me, both with their own strengths and weaknesses, but there's always a chance that World can overtake it some time in the future...

5/5 Stars 

My Complicated Thoughts On Sonic & The Secret Rings

My thoughts on Sonic as a series has always been a bit strange because I'm not someone who would call themselves ride-or-die for any one particular era of the series. I think the 2D Genesis games are still immensely iconic and replayable 2D momentum platformers, I love the Adventure era for its interconnected storytelling and cast along with its more free-form 3D gameplay, and I even have a real soft-spot for the infamously spotty late 2000s for its high production values, sheer variety and quantity of games, and the phenomenal boost trilogy of Unleashed, Colors, and Generations. I've even defended some of the more disliked entries in the series like Shadow 05, Black Knight, and Lost World, so needless to say, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to Sonic.

But then there's Sonic & The Secret Rings, a game that has left me thoroughly conflicted unlike no other Sonic game out there. I had only ever played a small portion of Secret Rings just to see what it was actually like, and I felt pretty confident in unambiguously calling it one of the series' worst entries for the motion controls alone, just like everyone else. But I always had this desire to go back to Secret Rings, and give it a proper chance. So I did, and... I kinda enjoyed myself? A bit? I don't know. 

I think the worst thing a Sonic game can do is make me feel nothing (that's part of why I'm always so harsh on Frontiers), and Secret Rings, for better or worse, made me feel pretty much everything. Where it was exhiliration at the game's fun setpieces, investment in the more personal story, exhaustion with the tedious menuing and tutorial system, frustrating with the wonky control scheme, awe at the gorgeous environments, or completely laughing my ass off at the game's ridiculous jank, Secret Rings had me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. But does that make it a good game? I'm really not sure. I'm not someone who ever believed in guilty pleasures, my take was always that if you enjoy a piece of media, it's doing something right. But with Secret Rings, I wonder if maybe I'm being too charitable. Have my standards gotten too low? Am I only even thinking this because of how unanimously disliked this game seems to be? 

With this review, I want to sift through my thoughts on Sonic & The Secret Rings, and also unpack how I personally think about games. So strap in, this is gonna be a long one.

Star Fox Assault: The Future Of Star Fox

Star Fox Assault is my favorite Star Fox game. It's also the Star Fox game that frustrates me the most, because it comes the closest to fully realizing the series' potential. Nintendo handed the series over to Namco for Assault, and considering their adeptness at making fun dogfighting games (hell, the team behind Assault worked on Ace Combat 2), it's a pretty perfect fit. Assault's campaign is a nonstop ten-stage sci-fi action blockbuster thrill ride with tight controls, addicting arcade-y mechanics, dynamic stages, a compelling story, and a polished presentation. It lays down the perfect framework for an ideal Star Fox game, but it's just too short, and Namco never got the opportunity to make a true masterpiece of a sequel. So let's talk about why I think Assault is so good.

From a story perspective, Star Fox Assault feels like a culmination of everything the series has been building up to. While Star Fox 64's story is obviously a lot more quotable and charming, Assault's story blends the classic Star Fox heroics with a much darker and more threatening antagonists. The Aparoids are a great Borg-style villainous force, and the story surrounding them manages to involve pretty much every single character in some way. Star Wolf briefly teaming up with Fox to take down a greater threat, General Pepper almost being taken over by the Aperoids, Krystal getting to join the team proper, Slippy's father being introduced, Peppy having a personal connection to the Aperoids because the previous Star Fox fought them years ago, Tricky getting a brief cameo when the Aperoids nearly wipe out Sauria, the list goes on. Namco showed a serious respect for the series' legacy and continuity with Assault's narrative, and it makes for what is probably the best story of the bunch. While I do wish we got more Star Fox games, I do also think that if Assault was the last game, it would be a pretty satisfying ending.

Assault's gameplay switches between a variety of modes. The classic Arwing gameplay is here of course, and it controls incredibly well. This is probably the best the Arwing has ever felt to control, and it's hard to fully articulate why. It just feels really tight and fast, with a simplified button layout that doesn't remove any of the mechanics in 64 but rather just makes them feel a bit less cumbersome to use. The fact that Assault generally plays at a silky smooth 60fps certainly helps matters as well. Assault has three dedicated on-rails stages and they're easily some of the best in the series, they're lengthy and dynamic, bringing you through these detailed environments as you try to dodge a variety of hazards. There are also a few all-range sections and they control just as tightly, so they don't feel quite as much like huge difficulty spikes like they did in 64. As a matter of fact, Assault's difficulty curve is top-notch, with each mission feeling properly tougher than the last without feeling too steep at any point.

The more divisive aspect of Star Fox Assault are the other playstyles though. Assault has you spend a lot of time on-foot in these large arenas as you run around trying to take down targets. Personally, I actually quite like these segments. Most enemies can be taken out in one charge shot, you run around really fast, and there's this really snappy and arcade-y feel to everything. Assault's on-foot sections aren't designed like your average third-person shooter, they're fundamentally designed with the same arcade sensibilities that the Arwing sections have which prevent these gameplay styles from feeling too disconnected from each other. My only gripe is the fact that the Twin Sticks control setup isn't the default, this is 100% the way you should play these on-foot sections.

But I think what really elevates Assault's campaign is the mission design. Outside of those three aforementioned on-rail stages, most stages in Assault don't just stick with a single gameplay style. Many of the on-foot stages also give you a Landmaster and at times even an Arwing to use, and others may even have you stand on the wing of Falco or Wolf's ship as you gun down enemies. There is an element of dynamism and variety to Assault's missions that mean you won't be spending much time doing the same thing. There isn't just "the Landmaster level" or "the turret level", because most of the missions have several moving parts and even several different ways to beat them. Add in a variety of difficulties, collectibles, Ally Medals, and a high score system, and there is still a decent amount of replay value and incentive for mastery here even without the branching paths of previous games.

However, for as much as I love the single-player campaign in Assault, I can't deny that it wasn't the main focus here. Star Fox Assault at its core is a multiplayer game, and it's a great one at that. The Versus Mode here has a wide variety of modes, stages, and characters, and it takes advantage of the variety of vehicles and movement options to allow for these large-scale battles to play out. But you can tell Assault was designed with the multiplayer first with the campaign being built around it, with several missions being built around the multiplayer arenas that feel almost designed to introduce you to how all the Versus mechanics work. The focus on multiplayer also shows in how short the campaign is. As I said, there are only ten levels here, and beating Assault always just leaves me wanting more. More on-rails levels, more boss fights, more big and open battles, more character interactions, etc. What we did get was great, but I can't help but wonder what an sequel would look like where Namco focused more on the single-player.

Star Fox Assault is a fantastic entry in the series with so much to love. It's got a great campaign with snappy controls and stellar mission design, it has an addictive multiplayer mode with tons of content and features, and it boasts a top-notch presentation with a gripping story, smooth visuals, and hands down the best soundtrack in the entire series. It's so close to being one of my favorite action games of all time, but I just wish there was more of it! Namco gets Star Fox, you can tell they have so much love for this series, and the fact that they were never able to make more of them will always be a colossal shame.

4.5/5 Stars

Ranking The Galaxies In Super Mario Galaxy 2

In my last post, I ranked all of the galaxies in the first Super Mario Galaxy game. This time, I'm going to tackle the sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2. If the first game was already a near endless stream of creativity, Galaxy 2 takes things up a notch with some of the most inventive back-to-back levels I've ever seen in a 3D platformer. Tons upon tons upon tons of awesome items, fun gimmicks, memorable setpieces, and unique galaxy designs that simply stick with you. And while it may be lighter in tone than its predecessor, it manages to serve as an optimistic compliment to the first game in a way I find equally touching. As far as I'm concerned, Galaxy 2 absolutely rivals its predecessor in terms of quality, and even exceeds it in some areas.

Unlike the first game, Galaxy 2 doesn't really have main or side galaxies. Every galaxy in the game has either two or three Stars, meaning they're all around the same size and I can actually group them all on the same list. So without further ado, let's get to ranking the galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy 2:

Quick MCU Update: Thunderbolts*

It's been a while since I reviewed a movie, and it's been even longer since I reviewed an MCU movie. But when Thunderbolts* came out to shockingly good reviews, I just knew I had to see it, and I thought I might as well give my thoughts on it.

So to keep things simple, I enjoyed Thunderbolts*, I really did. It reminded me of why I liked the MCU in the first place, going back to basics with a simple teamup premise between a bunch of flawed, complex mercenaries dealing with their own struggles. I can't really say I cared about Yelena, John Walker, or Ghost back in their respective debuts, and I found Red Guardian just straight-up obnoxious, but Thunderbolts* does a great job at making you care about all of them. They all have rough edges that make them interesting, and are carried further by fantastic performances and strong chemistry. Simply watching this team banter and bicker is fun on its own, which is the sign of a good cast. Bob/Sentry was also a surprise hit for me and felt vastly different from a lot of the more one-note MCU antagonists by not really being an antagonist at all. Rather, he's more of a fleshed out character that can stand toe to toe with the main cast, who just happens to take an antagonistic position by the end of the movie.

I also appreciate that Thunderbolts* actually addressed a lot of my criticisms with the MCU. I've mentioned that I found it frustrating how MCU movies tend to only half-commit to their premises, but Thunderbolts* is every bit the psychological character study Marvel pitched it as. This movie tackles its mature subject matter incredibly gracefully and thoroughly, from Yelena's depression, to John's divorce, to Bob's mental health struggles. And the third act wasn't just a manic CGI fest, it felt thematically relevant to what the rest of the film was setting up even if it had to be a bit more unconventional than usual. Speaking of which, the visuals in Thunderbolts* was also a massive step-up from what I was used to. Despite the darker color palette, this movie didn't have the sludgy grading issues other MCU movies had so it was able to use pure black shadows in some really striking shots. I also appreciate that most of the action was shot practically and CGI was only used where it was really necessary. This may seem superficial, but you can immediately notice the difference in how much more tactile the Thunderbolts* looks. I was actually impressed by some of the stunts here, which I've rarely said about the MCU.

That being said, I do have a few gripes. While Yelena, Bob, and to a lesser extent John, Val, and Alexei were all incredibly well-realized, there were a few characters that felt a bit shafted. I'm fine with Bucky not getting as much screentime because we've had years and years to get to know him, but Ghost definitely could've used more of a concrete arc. I also don't love how Yelena-centric the third act was, it would've been nice to see the other characters go through similar psychological struggles even if it meant the movie would've been a bit longer. And frankly, I'd want the movie to be longer because at two hours, Thunderbolts* feels a bit too short. It goes for a strange two-act structure so the movie kinda feels like it lacks a middle section. The team meets, then they go to NYC for the finale, and then the movie ends. 

And finally, I can't say I think Thunderbolts* is going to "redeem the MCU". It's a bit too late for that. This is the first MCU movie post Endgame that feels like it's actually pushing the plot forward, but the big Infinity War-level crossover is already a year away. Marvel has spent so much time goofing around that it still feels too early for Avengers Doomsday. Hell, we still don't have a proper MCU X-Men, Marvel has been teasing them since Wandavision in 2021. Unfortunately, I feel Marvel has made too much of a mess of this universe. There's too many plots being juggled, too many post-credits scenes left unresolved, and not enough new characters to pick up where the legacy cast left off. Thunderbolts* was a great movie and a step in the right direction for Marvel, sure, but it could never clean all of that up itself. And with two movies left until Doomsday, I just don't think that's possible.

But that's fine. Movies should be able to stand alone, after all, and on its own merits, Thunderbolts* is just a good superhero movie. It's got a likable and deep cast of characters, actual themes handled impressively well, stellar practical action scenes and strong cinematography, and most of all, it feels like its own thing. It doesn't feel like it was held back by the larger universe, and it stuck to its guns the whole way through. While it has some issues in terms of pacing, I can absolutely say Thunderbolts* is in my Top 3 MCU movies since Endgame along with No Way Home and Guardians Vol 3. It's not enough to make me want to come back to the MCU full time, but I'm glad it allowed me to check in on a franchise I used to really care for.

4/5 Stars

Ranking The Galaxies In Super Mario Galaxy

It's been quite a few years since I last played the Super Mario Galaxy duology, two of my favorite games of all time for their boundlessly creative level design, joyous antigravity mechanics, stellar atmosphere and soundtrack, and incredible levels of polish and detail. And since I was going to be replaying the Galaxy games, it's time for a project that has been long overdue. I'm going to rank all of the galaxies in both games, starting with the first.

Super Mario Galaxy 1 is my preferred entry of the two, just barely. While it may be a bit rougher around the edges compared to its sequel, it makes up for that with a hauntingly isolating sense of atmosphere and a unique level design philosophy so spontaneous that it manages to make the simple act of stumbling upon a new planet feel so momentous. It's a game that manages to be simultaneously infectiously playful and achingly melancholic, and with almost every level being an absolute blast to play, coming up with a concrete ranking is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do for this blog. 

Metal Gear Solid Boss Ranking

 Metal Gear Solid is a series that's known for its many iconic bosses, particularly in the initial trilogy and Rising. Metal Gear Solid for the PS1 in particular can almost feel like a boss rush at times with how much of your gameplay time is spent fighting bosses, and a lot of those encounters are really fun. So let's go ahead and rank all of the boss fights in MGS1:

10. Sniper Wolf 1
The first Sniper Wolf encounter is one of those fights that sounds a lot cooler than it is in execution, a tense close-quarters sniper battle that has you peeking behind corners and trading shots, on top of it being a race against time to save Meryl sounds really exciting. But first, to even start the fight, you need to backtrack all the way to the start to get a sniper rifle in what feels like an unusually awkward excuse for Meryl to get captured while you're not there. And once you return with the rifle, you realize how limited your options actually are. You can't move while aiming so the only real way to beat Sniper Wolf here is to bait out her shot, quickly run out of cover and shoot her, and then precisely following her to prevent her from getting any shots in. This tactic requires a level of precision that the rifle just doesn't offer even when you're using diazepam, and if you mess up, getting hit whacks your aim so off course that there's no reason not to reset and try again. It's just not an especially fun encounter, especially compared to other sniper boss battles in MGS that allow a much greater degree of player freedom.

9. Tank
While most fights in Metal Gear Solid have some sort of story or character importance, the second boss fight against two soldiers in a tank feels like a notable exception. It's not a bad boss by any means, but it's also not remarkable or even all that challenging. Use a chaff grenade to get up close, then hug the tank while you toss grenades into it and there's no way you'll be able to get hit. I don't even know what else I can talk about here, it's that simple of a fight.

8. Hind-D
The Hind-D comes at the tail end of what is already an exhausting sequence with multiple lengthy staircase climbs, almost nonstop combat and peril, and that tricky rope minigame. And as the cap on what is arguably MGS1's central setpiece, the Hind-D fight is suitably bombastic as it has you shoot down a helicopter atop a rooftop ala Die Hard. However, this fight is sadly not as fun as it could've or should've been. Dodging gunfire from the Hind-D by finding places to take cover is fun for sure, but the Hind-D just takes too long to reveal itself and that only gets worse in the second phase where it spends lengthy amounts of time hiding under your line of sight. I know it may sound a bit oxymoronic to fault a stealth game for having too much waiting, but the Hind-D fight in particular has too much downtime where I'm just not doing anything for what's supposed to be one of the most exhilarating encounters in the game.

7. Revolver Ocelot
Revolver Ocelot's boss fight is deceptively simple. It seems like one of those annoying "chase the boss in a circle" encounters, but there's a lot of other elements you need to keep track of and certain scenarios that can put both you or the boss at a disadvantage. Ocelot can only shoot six times before reloading, but his shots can ricochet, so you need to have a quick trigger finger and let out a shot every time he has to slow down. But you still need to be precise because if you run out of ammo, you'll have to precariously crouch under the center area to get some more, and of course you can't shoot through the center either or else you'll risk blowing up the entire place. It's still a fairly easy first fight since Ocelot doesn't deal too much damage and his shots are fairly slow, but there's enough strategy here to help it stand out regardless.

6. Metal Gear Rex
Metal Gear Rex is one of the most memorable fights in terms of pure spectacle, since destroying a massive mech as just a human with some weapons makes for a truly striking David-vs-Goliath situation. The Grey Fox cutscene in the middle is also a game highlight, especially that bit where the game won't let you shoot at him because Snake can't bring himself to, great showcase of how this game takes advantage of the medium right there. When you don't know what you're doing, it's also a pretty tough fight since Rex has powerful attacks for every situation, several insta-kills, and two phases. However, this fight is also a bit too easy to take advantage of. Hanging around in the middle range, not too close and not too far, means you'll only have to deal with his weakest and easiest-to-dodge attacks, and the fact that this is the last boss where you keep your inventory means there's no reason to conserve ammo or rations. I do think the Metal Gear Rays fight in MGS2 does a better job at mitigating those safe-spots and putting the pressure on the player by comparison while also being one of the most visually-striking moments in the franchise, but I still can't deny how cool its predecessor is by the standards of the PS1.

5. Sniper Wolf 2
Now THIS is a sniper boss fight. The rematch against Sniper Wolf is set in a big open snowfield which gives both you and her a lot more freedom to move around and hide. You don't need quick trigger-finger precision sniper aiming to win, just pure wits and strategy as you try to track her down without getting hit yourself. And with movement freedom also comes freedom of what weapons you use, because while you can use a sniper rifle as intended, you can also use, say, a guided Nikita missile instead? The Nikita strategy had the potential to be a complete utter game-breaker that degraded the fight, but the bumps in the terrain, the fact that Sniper Wolf can spot and shoot down your missile, and the Nikita's limited ammo mean it feels like a legitimate and equally rewarding tactic in its own right. But regardless of the strategy I pick, I just find Sniper Wolf's second fight to be a lot more fun and dynamic than the first.

4. Liquid Snake
Despite how simplistic the hand-to-hand combat is in Metal Gear Solid, I actually quite like the melee encounters in these games. It's already fun to cautiously study your boss's attacks and find openings, and Liquid Snake's fight takes things to another level by removing pretty much every safety net possible. Your inventory is gone, falling off the platform will cause an instant death, and of course, there's now a timer forcing you to play riskier than usual. While it's still a fairly one-note fight mechanically, the dramatic atmosphere and precarious game design still helps it feel like a climactic final boss. And if you really want to count it, the chase scene through the tunnel ends the game as a whole on an exciting bang even if hitting Liquid Snake with your machine gun can feel a bit too imprecise for my liking.

3. Vulcan Raven
When it comes to freedom of strategy, Vulcan Raven is easily the best encounter in the game. This is a simple cat-and-mouse chase against a boss who's immune to pretty much all of your small guns, but everything else is fair game. Want to drop C4 and lure him over them? That works. Want to try using Nikitas at the cost of him shooting them down? Sure. Want to sneak behind him and hit him with a Stinger? Sounds good to me. There are so many potential strategies here making for a really replayable and emergent encounter that really stood out among the crowd, and Vulcan's large radar and the increasing amount of blockades throughout the fight do a good job at keeping a level of tension throughout. The only thing preventing this fight from being even higher up on the list is that I just think the Top 2 are that creative and memorable.

2. Cyborg Ninja
Aka Gray Fox. This is the first melee encounter in the game and only the third boss, but man is it a beefy one. The fight against Cyborg Ninja has a whopping five different phases, where he'll use his sword, teleport around, turn invisible, and even tries to take you down with him once his health hits 0%. His constantly changing tactics make for a really dynamic fight that force you to adapt at a moment's notice, preventing the simple melee mechanics from ever getting stale. The attention to detail in the set-dressing also does a lot to help the fight feel more raw and chaotic, since nearly everything in the environment is completely destructible. You can break computer screens, toss around paper, knock over chairs, it all helps this fight feel so much more immersive.

1. Psycho Mantis
Yeah, this one's pretty obvious. Psycho Mantis is often regarded as one of the great video game boss fights and for good reason too. The sheer meta fourth-wall-breakiness of the entire fight, from Mantis reading your memory card, to the twist of needing to change your controller port to stand a chance still blows me away even having not grown up with the game. But it's not just style over substance. Mantis' telekinesis makes for some quite fun attack patterns to deal with (even if they can be trivialized pretty easily by crouching), and having to deal with protecting a brainwashed Meryl throughout the fight adds a level of tension and urgency that makes the whole encounter all the better for it. If Psycho Mantis's fight was just the cool meta gimmicks, or just the fun gameplay mechanics, or just the exciting personal story stakes, it would already be a pretty good fight. But all three of those things crammed into a single encounter? Yeah, no wonder this is considered one of the best fights in all of gaming.

Ranking Puyo Puyo Games

Puyo Puyo is not a series I talk about too much, but I've been rediscovering the series a bit later and wanted to make a post about my thoughts on the series. While not my favorite arcade puzzle game, Puyo Puyo is always a great time and probably stands as the best competitive arcade puzzler for how much depth it has and how fast-paced and cutthroat it can be. But even beyond the mechanics, Puyo stands out for being more story-driven and character-focused than your average arcade puzzler, boasting multiple stellar casts across both Compile's and Sega's runs with the series. Its fusion of gameplay and story is what helps the series stand out among the genre to this day.

I also have to say Puyo Puyo is a very consistent series in terms of quality, even the weaker games have a lot to love, so ranking the mainline games is a little tricky. Also this is an updated post including Box and Chronicle since I got the opportunity to play them recently.

17. Puyo Puyo (MSX): The very first Puyo Puyo game was released for MSX and the Famicom only, and it's not very good. Frankly, it's the only mainline Puyo game that I'd straight up call bad since it came out before Puyo Puyo found its identity as a character-focused VS arcade puzzler. It's exclusively endless, the only character is Arle and even then you barely see her, there's no VS or multiplayer, and there's no story, which makes for a really sterile, dull, and content-lacking package especially by today's standards. But even back then, this came out after Dr Mario and GB Tetris so I can't even say it was good for the time.

16. Puyo Puyo: The original Puyo Puyo game is pretty good. Obviously, it's a groundbreaking title in terms of competitive arcade puzzling, but I don't find it easy to go back too since offsetting isn't a thing yet. The console ports are also all seriously lacking for single-player content, a common issue in Compile's games that marginally improves over time, only containing a single campaign and an endless mode. Unlike the MSX game, this is definitely a game that was good for its time but hasn't exactly held up the best. I just see no reason to play it over anything else.

15. Minna De Puyo Puyo: Also known as Puyo Pop for the GBA, this was Sega's first entry in the series and it's quite awkward. It feels like a fusion between Compile and Sega's stylings in a package that ultimately just feels like a remake of Tsuu. That's not a bad thing, of course, Tsuu is one of the best Puyo games, but the weaker audio and presentation leaves Puyo Pop feeling pretty disposable. I do like how snarky Arle is in this game though, even by Compile Arle standards.

14. Puyo Puyo Box: Puyo Puyo Box is Compile's true final Puyo game, and it's really strange. It's a bizarre compilation of the Mega Drive versions of Puyo 1 and Puyo Tsuu, complete with a lot of random extras that pay homage to all of the first four games. You can battle with any rule from OG Puyo to Yon of all things. There's a solid endurance mode that pits you against every single Compile character, a strange PocketStation mode, and even a full-fledged RPG mode. However, there are some monkey paws here. While Puyo 1 was always the best on the Mega Drive, Puyo Tsuu on the Mega Drive is lacking some modes and features some of the later versions had so Tsuu feels pretty barebones here. And while the RPG Mode is cool in theory, the execution suffers from an obnoxiously high encounter rate and the bizarre decision to tie basic features like offsetting to specific pieces of equipment (and it doesn't help that this game has yet to see a translation). Puyo Puyo Box as a whole is a cute enough package and a nice tribute to Compile's history with the series, but it's not exactly my preferred way to play any of the Compile games.

13. Puyo Puyo Champions: Puyo Puyo Champions was a fairly cheap entry released in 2018 to accomodate for the competitive scene a bit more. It's got a fleshed-out multiplayer mode with no unlocks required, the best tutorial mode in the series since 15th (though it was added in a post-release update), and that's pretty much it. There's no story mode and not much in the way of singleplayer content aside from an achievements system which does hold it back for me personally, someone who tends to value the single-player in these games. And while the roster is decent, the abundance of Quest characters and lack of Fever characters also holds it back for me more than it probably should. That being said, as a purely competitive-focused outing, Champions does its job and does it well. It's probably my go-to game if I want to hop in and play a quick match, but all the other games just have more to offer beyond that.

12. Puyo Puyo 7: Puyo Puyo 7 is a strange game. This was Sega's second soft reboot of the series that aimed to introduce a new setting in Suzuran, but it wasn't quite as much of a success as Fever was. I like Ringo, but Suzuran's cast of characters is much smaller than that of Primp's stellar cast and as such feels a lot more underdeveloped. It also doesn't help that Fever's story is currently still unresolved, probably because of this game which replaced it with a far less interesting storyline. The new Transformation rule is also pretty unbalanced, basically being an inferior version of Fever that prolongs matches thanks to its overly long timer. It's not a bad game though. I like the unique new artstyle, it brings back Draco finally, it's the first Sega game to introduce a more fleshed-out Story Mode structure that the Tetris games would build on, Ecolo is pretty cool, the soundtrack is once again fantastic, and at the very least, you're not forced to always use Transformation like with prior games. This is a fine entry in the series, just pretty awkward overall compared to the two games it's sandwiched between.

11. Puyo Puyo Chronicle: Puyo Puyo Chronicle is the game I've played the least of so far since the fact that it's a Japan-only 3DS game means it's pretty inaccessible and hard to get running on my computer especially well. But from what I did play, it's solid, but like many of the weaker Sega Puyo games, it feels a bit undercooked. Chronicle is defined by being the first Puyo-adjacent game since Box to have a full-fledged RPG mode, and guess what, it's slightly better! The Skill Battle system is far better and more suited to an RPG than Puyo Box's bizarre equipment system, and the overworld navigation is a bit more involved. It can still be a bit repetitive, but I'd say it does the job. However, from a story perspective, I was expecting a bit more. In this era of Puyo, an RPG mode could've done so much to flesh out the pre-established characters and world with its extra runtime, but Chronicle just tosses everyone into a generic fantasy world and lacks much of the snappy character banter that defines the series.

Beyond that, Chronicle does offer a pretty solid Sega era Puyo game outside of the RPG Mode, boasting a really solid cast of characters, 17 rulesets, and a solid amount of side stuff like achievements, online play, and a shop. Granted, a lot of this stuff are things you can get in other games like 20th or Tetris 2, but it still makes for a really complete package for the 3DS. It also helps that I think the presentation is really charming too. Chronicle is entirely rendered in 3D this time which is a first for the series, and while it doesn't look as sharp as the games with 2D art, the character models and expressions are genuinely adorable. The pastel color palette and patchwork menu design gives the whole game this really comfy feel to it that I quite like, and there's even some full-on cutscenes for the campaign which just rules. I do wish I liked Chronicle more because there is potentially a really cool entry in the series here, but it's buried behind a few missed opportunities with its campaign.

10. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2: In a lot of ways, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is an improvement over the original. The Adventure Mode is a bit more involved, with side stories, optional chapters, a proper world map with nonlinear progression, RPG mechanics, and a story with a proper villain. The cast of characters is also far better especially post DLC, with it currently being the largest roster in a Puyo game. Lidelle, Serilly, Ocean Prince, Accord, Harpy, Possessed Klug, Sonic the freaking Hedgehog, so many great characters that weren't in the first game. On top of that, there's also a slicker visual style with flashier spells, more robust online, a new Skill Battle Mode that's more developed than I was expecting going in, a better tutorial mode, and the game feels less biased solely towards Tetris fans. If you prefer Tetris 2 over the original, I totally see why, it's a richer game in terms of what it offers.

However, it's hard to ignore just how much Tetris 2 rips from prior games, even compared to the other direct sequels in the series. The menu is nearly identical to that of Tetris 1, the player card and tutorial modes are nearly identical to the ones in Champions, the first two chapters of the Adventure Mode feel like blatant reintroductions to all the characters, and even the Skill Battle Mode is from Chronicle! Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 has nothing that it can call its own, and it has nothing to offer to people who own the first game unless they just so happen to be diehard Puyo fans already. And that's also not to mention the stuff that I think the first game did better, like gameplay speed, music, comedy, and the Adventure Mode's pacing. Tetris 2 is undeniably a great game, but it just lacks the same magic and novelty as the original for me.

9. Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop: Puzzle Pop should've been a homerun of a game because it does a lot right. It has arguably the best adventure mode of the bunch mechanically combining the level-based structure of the Tetris games with the multiple character stories of the Anniversary games and the item system of Fever 2. While it's not especially funny and some of the side stories fall a bit flat, I also appreciate that Puzzle Pop is the first game since 15th to actually shine a light on the Fever cast, it's been long enough. This game also has an absurd amount of side content too, from a ton of rulesets, to achievements, to a solid tutorial mode, to a scenario creator. If you said Puzzle Pop was your favorite, I totally get it. However, there's just a lot of little things I'm not huge on. The 3D artstyle, reminiscent of Chronicle, doesn't really do it for me. I also don't love the fact that you have to slowly unlock all the characters by beating their story modes, a process that takes quite a while. And of course, this is an Apple exclusive game which means you either have to use touch controls or forced full-screen on your computer, neither of which is ideal for me. If Puzzle Pop got a proper console release, I think it could jump up a few places, but as it is now, there are other games that are just easier for me to play.

8. Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary: Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary is Sega's first anniversary game, and as such, it's probably their biggest package to date in terms of pure content. With a whopping 22 campaigns, a whole bunch of rulesets you can unlock, and an impressive 300 lessons to help new players get adjusted to Puyo gameplay, there's a lot to dig into here. I also quite like the tournament arc premise for the Story Mode as it helps give this entry its own identity even despite it being an anniversary game, coupled with the fact that this is the first game to properly fuse the Compile and Fever casts. That being said, 15th does feel a bit harder to go back to now that 20th is a thing. Characters like Draco and Witch still haven't been reintroduced yet, and I'm not fond of having to slowly unlock all of the rulesets when later entries give you all of them right out of the box. At the time, 15th Anniversary was definitely the biggest Puyo game to date, but that crown has been stolen since.

7. Puyo Puyo Sun: In terms of its presentation, Puyo Puyo Sun is a big step up over the previous games. Sun takes its tropical premise and runs all the way with it, boasting a lovely and bright summer-themed aesthetic, and easily the series' cheeriest soundtrack. The story mode was expanded upon by giving Arle, Draco, and Schezo their own campaigns, and the gameplay is faster and snappier than ever before. I appreciate the Puyo games that are able to have their own unique identity, and Sun is a great example of that. Unfortunately, it's held back by the fact that I just don't like the Sun rule all that much. More than any of the other game-exclusive gimmicks, the Suns overcomplicate the gameplay too much for my tastes, and can easily skew the game towards a player depending on how many Sun Puyos they have. It's not the worst thing in the world and I can certainly put up with them to enjoy Sun for all of its good elements, but it does prevent it from being one of my personal favorite Puyo games.

6. Puyo Puyo Fever: Puyo Puyo Fever is a game that I will always have a soft-spot for. After GBA Puyo Pop's weak showing, this was the game where Sega really gave the series a new identity. I adore the poppy artstyle that Fever established, it's very 2000s and it warms my heart that Sega is still using it to this day. I adore Primp Town and its eclectic cast of characters, it's got such a comfy atmosphere and easily stands as my favorite location in the series. I adore the Fever rule, it strikes a great balance between being chaotic and arcade-y while still requiring a lot of skill to use it well. And I especially adore Fever 1's soundtrack, it's still probably Hideki Abe's best work in my eyes. The only reason why Fever 1 isn't higher up on the list is the fact that it is pretty light on content and is overshadowed by a lot of the later entries, including its own sequel, but rest assured, I still love this game to death. It did a fantastic job at laying the groundwork for the rest of the series.

5. Puyo Puyo~n: You read that right, I actually put Yon in my Top 5. To get the obvious out of the way, this is easily the worst competitive game in the series, being much slower and far more gimmicky. However, as a single-player experience, I think this is probably Compile's best offering. It's their first Puyo game to have a proper Free Battle mode, the Story Mode is longer and always you to save after each battle, there's a full-on Nazo mode, and the additions of alternate arenas and character-specific super attacks adds a nice dose of variety. It may be woefully unbalanced in a more competitive setting for now, but Yon's experimentation did pave the way for stuff like the Fever mode or the alternate rulesets in later games. If Yon simply moved a bit faster, I'd easily call it a top tier entry but even as it is now, it's a really fun time in its own unique way.

But of course, the real highlight of Yon is the entire presentation. Just all of it. The more painterly artstyle looks absolutely gorgeous, and I adore the darker fantastic aesthetic and more mature character designs. The prerendered backgrounds also really stand out for their dramatic and ethereal lighting, the whole game is just an absolute feast to the eyes. The soundtrack is also easily my favorite out of the Compile games, boasting a melancholic and dreamy feel that still feels very Puyo-y. And of course, the slightly darker story is one of the series' best as well. Puyo has always had a bit of a split between its gameplay and story sides, and Yon is probably the series at its most story-focused. While I wish it put a bit more effort into its gameplay, I think the strong presentation and story is still enough to make it a personal favorite of mine.

4. Puyo Puyo Tetris: Like with many people, Puyo Puyo Tetris was the game that got me into Puyo Puyo. It's such a brilliant concept that was also the perfect title to bring to the west after years and years of JP-only entries. Hook people in with the Tetris side and use the story mode to introduce newcomers to the entire Puyo cast and lore, it's great. If you want to just play Puyo or just play Tetris, or if you want to mess around with the Fusion modes, this is a great package with a lot of content and it's still generally faster and snappier than its sequel. The campaign is also easily the funniest in the entire series thanks to a uniquely manic localization and stellar vocal performances, though it still manages to hit some serious emotional highs in its final act as well. The one notable gripe I have with Tetris 1 is that, of course, it is biased more towards Tetris players. Tetris is more blatantly overpowered here, and several Puyo mainstays were cut so the new Tetris characters could join the roster. That is absolutely something the sequel handles a bit better. But despite that, I still love Tetris 1 to death for its creative premise and how effectively it introduced me to the Puyo series.

3. Puyo Puyo Tsuu: Puyo Puyo Tsuu is the game that perfected the Puyo formula with the introduction of offsetting, along with generally smoother gameplay, and it's still probably my favorite Compile era entry to go back to just because of how well-balanced it is. The character interactions are a joy, the music is infectiously catchy, there's multiple rulesets, and the campaign is a lot more involved with its tower structure and the addition of XP. I would complain once again about Tsuu lacking content for single-player, but the Super Remix version adds in multiple campaigns just to sweeten the deal. An absolute classic that still holds up to this day, there's a reason every Puyo game since 15th has made a point of allowing you to use the Tsu rule.

2. Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary: It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that this is so high up, Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary has pretty much everything you could want from a Puyo Puyo game. A massive story mode with 26 campaigns, one of the best character rosters in the series, a whopping 20 rulesets including the grand return of the Puyo Sun rule, a fun 2v2 mode exclusive to this game, a cleaner artstyle, and a stellar collection of music tracks both old and new. If I had any gripe it's that the story isn't particularly stellar, coming off as more of a sequel to 7 rather than something that actually takes advantage of the anniversary premise like 15th's story did, but that's really it. And even then, 20th's story does a lot to redeem PP7's story, particularly in how it makes Ecolo a far more interesting character. Otherwise, Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary is still the ultimate Puyo Puyo package that brings together all the best elements of all of Sega's prior entries, and I don't see its sheer scale being topped any time soon.

1. Puyo Puyo Fever 2: Puyo Puyo Fever 2 is such a gargantuan improvement and refinement of the first Fever, it's hard to even know where to begin. The character roster has been vastly expanded on with great new characters like Sig, Feli, and Lemres. The gameplay feels a lot tighter and faster than in Fever 2, and the artstyle has been further refined to great result. The Story Mode was made much more involved with three character campaigns, a proper item system, and bigger lore bombs like the reveal of the Ocean Prince's true form and the debut of Possessed Klug. The Endless mode has more to offer with the introduction of a Tower mode like in the Compile games, and there's a ton of unlockable stuff ranging from minigames, to lore books, to music tracks, to charming Puyo-themed movie posters. But most of all, the world-building of Primp Town has been amped up to eleven. Being able to explore the town through the menu, interacting with the various characters and getting to know them more, does so much to help Primp Town feel like a living, breathing place. Add in those aforementioned lore books and the mail system and yeah, it's no wonder this is the Puyo cast I have the most attachment to. On a gameplay standpoint, Fever 2 is great, but you can make the argument that the anniversary games often have more content, customization, and competitive viability. But the way Fever 2 expands on the cast and fleshes out its world is what makes it truly special in my eyes.

Brave Fencer Musashi

Squaresoft's Brave Fencer Musashi starts with one of the hardest openings I've ever seen in a game. It's a roughly half-hour-long action sequence that introduces you to all the game's mechanics in spectacular fashion, packing in platforming, combat, puzzle-solving, a manic chase sequence down the side of a tower, and a town-destroying three-phase boss fight where you throw a giant mech 10 times your size through walls and off a cliff, all the while a triumphant and orchestral score plays punctuating your every action. It's truly incredible. If the whole game was like this opening, Brave Fencer Musashi would probably be one of my favorite games of all time.

Unfortunately, Brave Fencer Musashi isn't entirely like that opening. It's still a great game, but it's a lot messier once you actually get exposed to its central gameplay loop. Brave Fencer Musashi is a lighthearted action RPG about the adventures of a chibi version of the titular samurai. The plot is simple, all you really have to go off is that you need to save Princess Fillet, rescue the castle staff, and collect all five scrolls while keeping them out of the hands of the enemy force. So what really gives BFM its charm are the wacky scenarios you get yourself into, along with Musashi's snarky dialogue with the other characters. From a vampire invasion, to giant ant infestations, to multiple steam-related mishaps, to a straight-up dance battle near the end of the game, Brave Fencer Musashi is filled with memorable moments and sequences that just add to the game's fun and goofy tone.

The core movement and combat is generally pretty solid too, though a bit rough around the edges. Musashi moves fast and platforming mostly feels reliable, though Musashi tends to skid a bit upon hitting the ground which can make it easy to accidentally slip off platforms right after landing on them. This is more of an issue in the first half of the game though since you eventually get a double jump that fixes this issue. The combat system gives you a solid amount of combos with Musashi's two weapons, Fusion and Lumina. Fusion is shorter and weaker but attacks faster, and Lumina is longer and more powerful but attacks slower. You can also pick up and toss enemies around, use a variety of magic spells with Lumina, and toss Fusion right at enemies to flat-out steal their powers giving you a ton of options on how to tackle enemy encounters. If I had any gripes with the combat system, it's that your sword range can be a bit stubby and your jump attack with Lumina is absurdly overpowered, but for the most part, it's an incredibly fun and versatile battle system.

However, the combat in BFM is also the first sign of the sheer system overload this game has. As I mentioned, there's a mechanic where you can steal the abilities of almost every enemy in the game which is really cool in theory, but a bit mixed in execution. You can only hold one ability at a time and need to read a tutorial box every time you get a new one (or reclaim an old one), and since the game doesn't always force you to make use of enemy abilities, I often don't even bother. Brave Fencer Musashi also tries to squeeze in life sim elements to mixed results. The game revolves around a real-time day/night cycle where some events will only occur at certain times, once again a cool concept in theory, but in execution it leads to a lot of downtime. You can fall asleep to speed up the timer, but I still spent a lot of time waiting for shops to open or Minkus to appear. I'd say the day/night cycle is best utilized in the main story when the game occasionally gives you a timed sequence, but most of the time, it feels like a hinderance. There's also a very irritating fatigue system where Musashi will get more and more tired over time and lose BP, which can get quite intrusive in dungeons and especially boss fights. Eventually, you can get a quilt that lets you sleep off all your fatigue with no risk pretty much negating the entire system, and guess what? The game is more fun that way!

Brave Fencer Musashi's roughly ten-hour length is mostly split between exploring the town and the areas surrounding it, and linear action stages. The linear action stages are by far the better half of the game. From solving your way through various temples, to platforming across mine shafts, to fighting some of the craziest boss fights on the PS1, to playing a variety of silly minigames, Brave Fencer Musashi is an absolute blast when it focuses purely on action. As a matter of fact, I'd argue that Brave Fencer Musashi at its best is more frenetic, inventive, and varied than Threads Of Fate, its spiritual successor that I generally prefer a lot more. But once again, that's only half the game. You'll also have to do a lot of running around the town talking to people to figure out what you need to do next, and the top-down perspective can make it pretty hard to tell where you are in the town, especially early on. And even outside of the town, there are several areas that you will have to backtrack through entirely multiple times to get everything and it got pretty tedious. Ultimately, my big issue with Brave Fencer Musashi is that when it locks in, it can be a ton of fun. But there are also a fair amount of moments that feel like they're padding out the experience, from the constant backtracking and cryptic event triggers near the town, to waiting out the clock, to dealing with the fatigue system.

Thankfully, Brave Fencer Musashi does get better the more you play it. It has an element of metroidvania progression where you get upgrades that make navigating the world and dealing with stuff like the fatigue system a lot easier, and the game overall gets increasingly action-focused as it goes on. I'd say the Vambee arc is where BFM really hits its stride, since it introduces this creative premise where vampires attack the town, and it puts you through several incredibly fun and challenging platforming sequences in close succession. And as I mentioned, the boss fights are a consistent highlight, most of which being super bombastic and dynamic, boasting multiple phases and a variety of attack patterns to throw you off guard. At worst, some of these fights have a bit too much downtime, but the sheer scale and creativity of most of them more than make up for it. It all culminates in the great final chapter which drops the timer all together as Musashi wages a one-man war on the enemy force all on his own, and it's awesome. The final area tests all of your abilities from platforming to combat, and it contains a whopping five boss fights, including several 1-on-1 duels, a hilarious dancing minigame, a stunningly large-scale fight against a tower, and a stellar final boss complete with multiple chase sequences and a fast-paced final phase that makes excellent use of your assimilation ability.

As per the usual for a Squaresoft game on the PS1, the overall presentation of Brave Fencer Musashi is also good enough to elevate the entire package. The whole game boasts this adorable and expressive chibi look, and the story is conveyed through an impressive amount of fully voice-acted in-engine cutscenes. While I think Threads Of Fate is overall a cleaner-looking game, Brave Fencer Musashi did a great job at laying the groundwork (not to mention Threads doesn't even have any voice acting to begin with). The soundtrack by Tsuyoshi Sekito is also incredible, going for a sweeping orchestral sound that really sells the adventure as grander than it probably is. The main theme in particular is chill-inducingly epic, and BFM knows exactly when to let it kick in for maximum effect. Brave Fencer Musashi has so much sauce and charm that are able to carry the experience even in its weaker moments.

Brave Fencer Musashi is a game that has a lot to love. When it's focused on offering high-octane action RPG goodness, it excels with its fun and versatile combat, varied traversal mechanics, charming scenarios and setpieces, stellar presentation, and sick sense of style. But the slower, life sim elements just don't do it for me and often feel like they intrude on the experience more than they compliment it. There are stretches where Brave Fencer Musashi could absolutely rank among my favorite games, but it's just not at that level all the time, and that's fine. Even if it has its rough edges, Brave Fencer Musashi is still a really enjoyable action RPG that I enjoyed playing through.

4/5 Stars