Discovering Armored Core

Fromsoft has always been one of my biggest gaming blindspots, as the infamously high difficulty of their Souls series always left me a bit cautious about delving into their work. But this year I decided to change that... by getting into their far more niche series Armored Core instead. I've been playing through all the PS1 and PS2 entries of Armored Core over the past few months, and came away with a lot to say. So I wanted to talk about my impressions and takeaways from my experience with the Armored Core series.

Armored Core: Armored Core is a more realistic and dystopian take on the mecha genre, having you play as a mercenary called a Raven doing odd jobs as you try to scrounge up money to improve your mech. These games have some incredibly deep customization and resource management with how using ammo and losing health costs the money you get paid with, and when you add in some rigid tank controls and consistently steep difficulty curves, whichever game I played first was going to be a bit tough to get used to. And even then, this first entry puts absolutely zero effort in letting you adjust to the controls, and I spent the first few stages clumsily bumbling around and barely staying out of the negatives. It does kinda work in Armored Core 1's favor though. This is still one of the bleakest games in the series, both in terms of its dark PS1-era visuals and its woefully cynical story that has you ally with one of two competing corporations only for them to brand you as dangerous and turn on you. There's none of the goofy cutscenes, bombastic music, or pure fun arena battles that the later games would add, and that's kinda cool. Everything about Armored Core 1 feels deliberately designed to make the player understand how miserable being a Raven would be, and it leads to a unique atmosphere that helps it stand out.

That being said, this still means AC1 is held back a bit in terms of fun factor. As I said, there's no Arena here which would end up becoming one of my favorite things about the series, and the customization is a lot more lacking than in the sequels. In exchange, there's nearly 50 missions in this entry but that's not exactly a great thing. While there are some fairly fun and iconic missions in AC1, most of them tend to either be incredibly short and frustrating hostile, boasting surprise AC fights, clunky platforming, and of course, Fromsoft's very first poison level. There is a stretch in the middle of Armored Core 1 where everything clicks and doing mission after mission can get really fun, but that's only after you get past that initial hurdle of learning the gameplay, and eventually another difficulty spike hits hard. It all culminates in AC1's infamously awful final mission which has you do some brutal vertical platforming, and then fight two 9-Balls in a row just to twist the knife further. It's such a disappointing way to end an otherwise solid start to the series.

B Tier

Armored Core: Project Phantasma: Project Phantasma is very much an expansion to the first game, being a lot lighter in content and even using the same soundtrack. But that's not always a bad thing because I'd argue Project Phantasma is a lot more refined than its predecessor. For starters, the arena has been introduced and while it feels pretty undercooked in this game due to the basic opponent AI, it is a welcome addition. As for the campaign, it only has 17 missions but makes up for that with all of them feeling developed, fleshed-out, and worthwhile. Most of the missions in Project Phantasma tend to feel really dynamic, often having multiple parts to them and even some in-engine cutscenes to spice things up. There's a great level of variety to the missions and many of them have you infiltrating a variety of bases which is always a fun time. Overall, I got a lot more enjoyment out of this game solely because the missions were more interesting.

However, if there's one area where Project Phantasma drops the ball, it's the atmosphere. While I love the fact that there is a more developed story with cutscenes, a hammy goofball of a villain in Stinger, and even a partner, the tone here feels weirdly light-hearted for an Armored Core game. Project Phantasma plays out more like a fun blockbuster spy thriller which is fun in its own way but feels completely at odds with the other two games in the PS1 trilogy. It also doesn't help that this game is easy as sin, it barely gave me any trouble across its entire runtime and that's only made worse by how much money the arena gives you. So for as much as I enjoyed this one, I still think there's more potential for an Armored Core game that can blend the polish of Project Phantasma with the atmosphere of the first game...

B Tier 

Armored Core: Master Of Arena: ...And thankfully, Master Of Arena is mostly that game. In terms of the presentation, Master Of Arena is the best PS1 game by a landslide in so many ways. I love the story being a revenge tale, in which the protagonist becomes a Raven to take down 9-Ball once and for all. Considering how terrifying the run-in with 9-Ball in the first game was, this setup made me both excited and scared to get my own payback. The stages still had in-engine cutscenes and a greater story context, but the tone felt more mature once again. The soundtrack is also easily the best out of the PS1 trilogy as well, with tracks like Rescue, 9, and Synoptic Dope standing out as series highlights. 

I think the best thing about Master Of Arena is how it intertwined the Arena and the normal campaign. The game forces you to alternate between arena battles and standard missions, and doing both is what progresses the plot. This allows the game to have really strong pacing throughout, while also being a lot more balanced than PP in its difficulty since you won't be able to grind a ton of arena money before doing a single mission. Personally, I do think the missions in MoA aren't quite as developed as the ones in its predecessor, some of them are still pretty short, but at the very least, none of them are annoying either. And I'd say the improved Arena makes up for the weaker missions with its more varied opponents, each with a unique gimmick and a cute little bio explaining their backstory. It was just fun to see all the different wacky mech designs, and I can't even imagine how many more were in the postgame EX Arena. 

I'd also say Master Of Arena was the first game where I felt truly confident in my abilities, and it's so masterful at showing this off by constantly pushing you into different situations. This was the first time I fully completed an arena in an Armored Core game, and the various missions had me fighting off ACs pretty much constantly. Compared to the first game where I was terrified every time an unfamiliar mech would show up, I was wrecking house throughout most of Master Of Arena and it felt great. This all culminates in one of my favorite finales to an Armored Core game which has you face off against 9-Ball, then multiple 9-Balls at a time, and then a souped up 9-Ball all in a row. This sounds impossible and I didn't even think I'd be able to beat MoA, but I did, and it felt incredible. Maybe this is why people like the Souls games.

A Tier 

Armored Core 2: Armored Core 2 is the first entry for the PS2 and it... really doesn't change much. Like it does feel a bit smoother than the PS1 games, especially jumping, and the 60fps framerate is a boon, but it mostly feels like a direct sequel to Master Of Arena. Hell, some of the missions are straight-up reused from previous games. However, while I was still hoping for a bit more from what's supposed to be the big next gen leap, what we got was still really great. AC2 feels like a game with the same heft and scope of the original Armored Core, just with a lot of the improvements and QoL additions of PP and MoA. The mission design is some of the most interesting so far with the PS2 allowing for more varied environments and in-depth cutscenes than ever before, the Arena keeps up the level of quality from MoA by having even more memorable and strange opponents to face off against, and the customization has been further fleshed-out with stuff like extensions, hover legs, and heat management. 

The story is a bit of a slow-burn in this one, with the first half of the game mostly revolving around you doing various disconnected missions for corporations, albeit with a neat Mars aesthetic to keep it feeling somewhat fresh visually. But then the Frighteners appear, and things get a bit more interesting. Throughout the second half, you'll be having constant run-ins with these raven-hunting ACs, all building towards the reveal of their leader, Leos Klein. And continuing the trend of amazing Armored Core villains, Klein is not only another wonderfully hammy and threatening antagonist, he's also the first AC to ever defeat Nine-Ball (which means he may potentially be you from Master of Arena?!). It's such a cool twist, and the massive three-mission finale boasting multiple AC fights against Klein, an aerial battleship assault, and an atmospheric last stage on Phobos ends the game on a strong note... even if I was able to pretty easily beat Klein himself with enough pure missile spam.

I'd still say Master Of Arena is overall a more satisfying package, but Armored Core 2 is a solid second place so far. AC2 starts slow, can feel pretty derivative, and still has a few rough spots with its objective signposting, but it still feels like a more refined version of the previous games with a lot of strong missions and arena battles of its own. It's a very iterative sequel, but it does show Fromsoft figuring out what Armored Core does best and really leaning on those strengths.

A Tier 

Armored Core 2: Another Age: Compared to Project Phantasma and Master Of Arena, Another Age is more blatantly an expansion pack to AC2. There's no story nor is there an Arena, it's just a collection of 100 missions for you to do at your leisure. As a result, I hope you'll excuse me for not beating this one. This is just too many missions and I have zero motivation to do them all, even knowing that the true ending brings back the final bosses of the PS1 games which is admittedly a pretty cool throwback. It also doesn't help that the quality of the missions wasn't that great either from what I've played. After three games worth of missions that feel purposeful and varied, Another Age goes back to the AC1 formula of plopping you in a arena with a bunch of enemies and having you kill them all for many of its missions. Hell, many of these missions utilize the exact same arenas just with different enemy arrangements and it gets repetitive fast. I'm sure there are plenty of genuinely great missions I probably haven't gotten to yet, but I'd rather play an Armored Core game with 30 missions that are all great than have to wade through the filler. It's a textbook example of quantity over quality, and while Armored Core at its weakest is still pretty fun, I can't say it kept my attention.

I also think it's worth noting that Another Age kinda feels like the end of an era for the series. Gen 1 & 2 are pretty closely connected in terms of their story, aesthetics, soundtrack, and especially the overall tone, which still generally has a sense of fun to it. Gen 3 marks the series' first big reboot and a permanent shift towards much darker territory, so for all its flaws, I do appreciate Another Age being a farewell to the early days of the Armored Core series, nostalgic throwbacks and all. 

C Tier 

Armored Core 3: Armored Core 3 is yet another pretty iterative sequel, not really changing too much aside from QoL improvements. If anything, it's even more iterative than AC2 since it basically reboots the series and copies the story setup wholesale, and the few changes that were made are a bit hit-or-miss with me. So let me get through my issues with AC3 first. The economy feels a lot stricter especially in the early-game, I found myself losing money in missions a lot more often which forced me to grind out arena battles a lot at first. The arena itself while still fun also has less interesting opponents than the ones in MoA and AC2. The story is even more of a slow-burn than the one in AC2 with an even less exciting payoff than the introduction of the Frighteners, and the AI Controller plot just didn't have me as invested as everything involving Leos Klein. I also kinda prefer the more futuristic Martian aesthetics of AC2, they felt a lot slicker and more unique to me, but that's more of a minor subjective thing.

Where AC3 does excel, however, is in its general feeling of refinement across the board. Controls feel even smoother than before, with aerial combat in particular feeling infinitely better and more viable. The mission structure combines that of pretty much all the previous games, so you need to do missions to rank up in the arena, and the missions themselves are segmented into different locations like in Another Age. With 49 total missions, this is also the biggest numbered AC game to date, but it has a much stronger overall quality than AC1 and Another Age especially as it goes on. The emphasis on Raven teamups is pretty unique too. Usually it feels like you're alone and that any Raven "partner" will inevitably turn on you, but you're constantly getting to fight alongside other Ravens and can even hire cohorts on certain missions which is a neat change of pace. The difficulty curve is also the best in the series so far, AC3 does a great job at easing you in unlike AC1 and AC2 and there's an impressive lack of difficulty spikes. I also like the orchestral-techno soundtrack, it gives me some serious Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity vibes, and there are plenty of nice additions like left-handed projectiles and the garage and shop being in the same part of the menu. 

So overall, I did find Armored Core 3 to be yet another really fun Armored Core game, a big step in the right direction after Another Age with the most polish out of any game in the series. However, overall, I was kinda surprised to realize that I think I prefer AC2. Even with AC3's mechanical improvements, I found AC2 to have tighter pacing, a more interesting story, and a better Arena. At this point, I do hope that Fromsoft will start to shake things up a bit more soon because these numbered Armored Core games, while still really good, are starting to feel pretty samey.

B Tier 

Silent Line: Armored Core: Silent Line was the Armored Core game I was looking forward to the most, everything I've heard about it looks right up my alley. Basically Armored Core 3 but with a tighter campaign with more developed missions and nearly double the customization parts? Sounds great! But did Silent Line actually live up to the hype for me? Hell, yeah.

Silent Line is pretty much an improved followup to Armored Core 3, improving on all of its issues and enhancing everything it did right. The way the arena and campaign are structured is pretty much identical, as is the core movement, but everything is just executed slightly better this time around. The campaign is the obvious standout, of course. It is a bit shorter than AC3's campaign but it's a lot tighter in its pacing, with every single mission feeling memorable, developed, creative, and interesting. Silent Line doesn't even suffer from the slow start that other Armored Core games have as its early missions will already have you boarding a submarine, crushing cars to distract the enemy, putting out fires, and trying to differentiate enemies from friendlies without your radar. Most of the missions have multiple moving parts to them and surprise AC battles, and they only get more complex, challenging, and exciting as the game goes on. If I had any gripes, there may be a few too many "protect X" missions, but that's really it. And even then, these are easily the most unique and engaging protection missions to date. Silent Line's mission design is far and away the best in the series so far, leaps and bounds over any prior entry as far as I'm concerned.

I also think the Arena is a solid improvement in a lot of areas. While it still isn't quite as lovably gimmicky as the AC2 Arena, it is a lot more challenging with some of the smartest AC AI to date and the addition of destructible arms forcing you to play a lot more tactically. Silent Line's Arena can't really be brute-forced as easily as the previous arenas, and I think that's for the better. I also think customization and the general economy is the best it's ever been. While the earlier missions may still be a bit tough to profit off of, this game showers you with secret parts that you can find through exploration and completing objectives along with the fact that you can carry over your AC3 mech. The shop also really opens up boasting over 400 parts to try out including a full suite of left-arm projectiles which gives you so many build options. Even the story is a solid improvement with an intriguing mystery plotline about what lies on the surface that culminates in a far better final boss than AC3's and a pretty sweet reveal to cap off the game. The fact that Silent Line takes place above ground this time almost means the environments are way more interesting than the ones in AC3, and the game has this noir-esque foggy atmosphere that really helps it stand out. And of course, best of all, Silent Line's soundtrack is the best one so far as well with a ton of really catchy, moody, and bopping tracks like Scrambling Film, Rise In Arms, and Monkey Likes Daddy.

So yeah, Silent Line: Armored Core is incredible. It's hands down my favorite one so far and it's not even close. While it may seem overly similar to AC3 on the surface and I suppose it is, but everything about it is immaculately well-executed. Between the stellar mission design, engaging Arena, strong atmosphere, immense replay value, and overwhelming customization, Silent Line ticks pretty much all of the Armored Core boxes. If this is the last game with the tank control scheme, I couldn't imagine a better way for it to go out. 

S Tier  

Armored Core Nexus: What the hell did they do?!

Man, I was so excited for Nexus since I knew Fromsoft was finally going to add dual-analog controls, and to give credit where it's due, they're great! The original tank controls have grown on me, but there truly is no denying how much more fluid and natural the analog controls feel and it makes me wish all the previous games used them. However, Nexus makes a lot more changes than just the controls, and most of them are really bad. I'm not even going to talk about the heat changes because that's the least of this game's problems. At the very least, you can circumvent the heat with the right build, though it still doesn't bode well for PvP where the optimal strategy is now just making the opponent overheat. Where Nexus really drops the ball is in terms of its UI and its mission design, so let's start with the UI. 

AC customization has been royally fucked in Nexus. You can't sell your starting parts which is already pretty stupid, but then I learned that using parts causes them to deprecate in sell price. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA. The brilliance of Armored Core is that parts sell for the same price that you buy them for, which allows you to freely experiment with customizing your mech at any point. Having parts decrease in price when you try them out kills that sense of experimentation, because now I feel more encouraged to look up the optimal builds to save money rather than mess around on my own. There's a lot of smaller issues with the menu too, though. The shop now looks identical to the garage which means sifting through parts takes a lot longer, you can't load a file from the system menu so you'll have to go back to the title screen if you want to save-scum, the map with all the missions is now completely confusing to navigate, and briefings are incredibly short and not voiced which leaves me feeling like I have way less information going into a mission. I've also seen the criticism that Nexus doesn't really have any branching paths, and failing missions doesn't affect the story in any meaningful way but.. uhh... more on that in a bit.

As for the mission design, Armored Core Nexus feels like such a massive regression from not just the stellar missions of Silent Line, but all the games outside of AC1. Now, most of the missions in Nexus are pretty much just "defeat X enemies", and they're all incredibly short and repetitive. And to top it all off, the Arena as we know it is gone! Instead, Arena missions are peppered throughout the campaign and give you absolutely no freedom in terms of when and how you want to fight each AC. It's a real shame because Nexus does have some cool ideas and features. The story is weirdly light-hearted for an Armored Core game, with brighter environments and a catchy rock soundtrack, only for the phenomenal ending to hit you with the entire world being blown up as you struggle and fail to stop it. This is why I actually kinda like that you have so little agency in Nexus's story. For once, you aren't the most important Raven out there, you are just an average Raven. You are not better than anyone else. Any missions you don't pick will be taken up by other Ravens, and you couldn't even stop the world from ending. It's such a unique direction to take an Armored Core game and I kinda vibe with it. Of course, Nexus is also known for having an entire second disc filled with remade missions from prior games, along with an archive filled with unlockable movies, concept art, and music. This is obviously really cool, and it makes Nexus almost feel like an anniversary game even though it actually isn't.

Armored Core Nexus definitely rivals Another Age in terms of being my least favorite so far, sadly. I do appreciate that Nexus isn't just a selection of missions and actually has a pretty neat story and vibe, along with the Revolution disc, but mechanically I do think Another Age is way better. It's such a shame to have my favorite Armored Core game to date followed up by such a massive drop in quality, but I can only hope that Fromsoft learned from their mistakes with the next game. 

C Tier  

Armored Core: Last Raven: Well, I still don't really have a way to play PS3 games, so I'm gonna have to end my Armored Core marathon here for now (shame, For Answer looks really good). If you're familiar with this series, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Last Raven was the Armored Core game I was dreading the most. This is infamously the hardest game in the series, and it's the first game that Hidetaka Miyazaki worked on. And while I have been managing pretty well with the series' difficulty so far, I was worried Last Raven would be a step too far for me.

So here's the thing, I adore Last Raven in terms of its atmosphere and presentation. This game probably has the most developed story out of any Armored Core game to date, with an ingenious premise to boot. Coming off the heels of Nexus' ending, the world is in tatters, every single Raven now has a bounty placed on them, and a war between the Ravens and the corporation is going to wage in 24 hours. It feels like the ultimate culmination of this series' premise, the sense of paranoia that defined AC1 coming to a head as now, truly nowhere is safe. Every single other Raven on the planet is after your head, and depending on the alliances you choose to make, you may end up being the last one remaining. This game is so freaking bleak and I adore it. All the ACs you face have OP-Intensify to show how truly desperate they are to survive. The garage slowly falls apart as the story goes on. And the soundtrack, holy crap the soundtrack. I've heard many say Last Raven has the weakest OST in the series but I couldn't disagree more. Its harsh, abrasive, industrial sound fits the vibe of this game perfectly. It still does have a lot of bangers like Fallin Device, Vague Smoke, and Jean, but the later tracks get increasingly more tense, unhinged, and stress-inducing and it does so much to heighten the mood. No joke, this is on par with Silent Line as one of my favorite OSTs in the series to date.

But then there's the gameplay, and this is where I was a bit more skeptical. Coming off the heels of Nexus, I wondered if Last Raven would actually improve on anything and it mostly did. The UI is generally a lot snappier and more well laid-out, I'd even argue this is the best shop/garage in the series so far. Tuning your parts is more intuitive, you can load from the menu once again, there are proper briefings, and there's even an arena. The mission design is also a lot better, not fully back to the scope of Silent Line's, but they are a lot more inventive and layered. There are still a few frustrating holdovers, particularly the fact that price deprication is still a thing, but for the first few missions, I was having a lot of fun. The addition of branching paths each with different levels of difficulty also allow you to modulate your experience in a way that I find to be pretty cool. But no matter which path you take, you will eventually have to run into an AC, and this is where I started to understand why Last Raven is considered so hard.

So, as I said, all the ACs in this game are on OP-Intensify meaning they're basically cheating. They're way faster and more aggressive than anything you've ever fought in previous games, and each and every one of them is a massive difficulty wall, especially whichever one you fight first. It also doesn't help that parts can now be permanently destroyed, not just your arms temporarily like in Silent Line. And also explosions damage you so blades suck. It says a lot that Last Raven is the game where I finally learned how to properly bunny hop, and even then, I just wasn't enjoying myself with any of these fights. Last Raven is so much fun when you're doing standard missions, but whenever one of those souped-up cheating ACs show up, my enjoyment grinds to a complete halt. So now I'm really split because there's a lot about Last Raven that I love, but I genuinely don't think I can beat it. I've tried, I've been bashing my head at a bunch of these ACs nonstop, but there's only so much sadism I can take. I respect Last Raven to hell and back, but it's not for me. 

It's always a shame when my playthrough of a series ends on a bit of a downer note, as both the Gen 3.5 games left me feeling a bit disappointed. But unlike with Nexus, I still appreciate what Last Raven was going for, and I'd still rank it on the higher end of AC games. Mechanically, it's inarguably one of if not the best Armored Core game so far, and I still think the atmosphere is top-notch. I truly wish it could've been my favorite AC game because it had all the pieces, but the fact is that there is a level of difficulty and brutality that is too much for me to handle. I was hoping that maybe playing through Armored Core would encourage me to give the Souls games a shot, but while I did end up liking AC as a series a lot, I still can't say I feel compelling to try out a Soulslike yet.

B Tier

So overall, I did really enjoy my time with the Armored Core games. Despite their obvious jank, I had such a blast with the Gen 1-3 games and it was exciting to see Fromsoft slowly improve and refine the formula, culminating in Silent Line being so damn good. There truly is a lot to love here, from the banging soundtracks, to the deep customization, to the addictive arena battles, to the dark atmosphere, to those truly special missions that will always stick with you. While it is a shame that Gen 3.5 didn't fully land for me, I'm still glad I gave this series a shot and that I can definitively say that I'm a fan of at least one of From Software's franchises.

Here's my ranking:

1. Silent Line: Armored Core
2. Armored Core: Master Of Arena
3. Armored Core 2
4. Armored Core: Last Raven 
5. Armored Core 3 
6. Armored Core: Project Phantasma
7. Armored Core
8. Armored Core: Another Age
9. Armored Core Nexus 

Well, time to move on to other things while I wait for the ability to play For Answer.

UFO 50 Mini Reviews

UFO 50 got a Switch port! As someone who likes delving into console libraries, this was a game that always fascinated me so I'm really glad I was able to experience it. And after days and days of sifting through this massive 50-game behemoth, something I've noticed is just how different everyone's rankings are. With the sheer variety of games on offer, UFO 50 forces its players to open up about their personal tastes in games and how it affects their view of the collection as a whole, which I find really cool. So I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring, reviewing each game one by one and giving my own personal ranking at the end. Although, since there's a whopping 50 of these things, I'm also going to challenge myself to review them as succinctly as possible.

Barbuta: This is a game I respect more than I actually enjoy playing. As a joke against the player, I like that this feels authentically from 1982, for better and primarily for worse. The sense of exploration is still pretty well-done, but the sluggish movement doesn't really make me want to explore.

C Tier 

Bug Hunter: I'm not much of a strategy guy, but I still found myself playing this one for a bit. It's easy to pick up and really creative, but the sheer amount of deckbuilding options feels pretty overwhelming and the waves go on for a long time.

C Tier 

Ninpek: A pretty fun autoscrolling arcade game in the vein of Mr Goemon or Psycho Soldier so it's not especially original, but it plays a lot smoother that its inspirations. It's quite short but it makes up for that by being insanely hard.

C Tier 

Paint Chase: This one feels like a cross between New Rally X, Crush Roller, and Vividlope which seemed a bit boring at first but got surprisingly addicting the more I played it. The variety of powerups and stage hazards keep the game feeling fresh across its many stages, and the difficulty curve is quite smooth.

B Tier 

Magic Garden: Snake meets Pac Man. I love the pastel aesthetic here and the music is great, and the pacing is brisk enough that I found myself replaying this one a lot. But with instant deaths, Magic Garden is also very unforgiving to a degree that I found pretty frustrating.

B Tier

Mortol: A super creative puzzle platformer about conserving lives that's dripping with polish, probably the first really high-quality game of the bunch that could easily stand out as its own release. That being said, expect to replay stages a lot because finding the optimal routes will require some heavy foresight and a bit of trial-and-error.

A Tier 

Velgress: Downwell is one of my favorite roguelikes of all time, and Velgress is basically a vertical Downwell. Fast-paced, tightly designed, and incredibly addictive. Deaths can happen in an instant, but restarting is so quick that it's easy to sink hours into slowly chipping away at your record.

S Tier 

Planet Zoldath: A very boring roguelike about communicating with aliens. So much of it is RNG, down to even figuring out which aliens won't harm you, and the gameplay loop just didn't keep my interest at all. The first UFO 50 stinker as far as I'm concerned.

F Tier 

Attactics: I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this one. While a bit mindless, this is a very fun and fast-paced RTS with an impressive amount of content and a lot of charm. The campaign does an excellent job at slowly adding in new mechanics to keep things fresh too.

A Tier 

Devilition: A fine enough puzzle game about triggering chain reactions that can feel a bit too luck-based and slow-paced to be fully enjoyable. The concept is cool, but the execution could've been a bit more interesting.

D Tier 

Kick Club: Of course I was gonna adore the Bubble Bobble clone. Bright, colorful, fluid, and fun to master, Kick Club may be one of the more traditional UFO 50 games but it's no less fun and replayable.

A Tier

Avianos: Okay now this is a strategy game that I just couldn't vibe with. It's not bad for what it is and the concept of making prayers to different idols is neat, but I found it dreadfully boring.

D Tier 

Mooncat: A solid contender for my favorite UFO 50 game. I adore Mooncat's surreal atmosphere, and learning the unconventional controls was immensely satisfying, especially when I was able to use that experience to find hidden routes upon replays. This was the first UFO 50 game I was able to beat, it was just that good.

S+ Tier

Bushido Ball: A competent but very basic sports game that I got tired of pretty fast. It plays well and the aesthetic is pretty charming, but the character balancing is rough and there wasn't enough to keep battles feeling fresh, at least in single-player.

C Tier

Block Koala: This is just a weird take on Sokoban. I personally like puzzle games and Sokoban for that matter so I thought Block Koala was pretty fun, but I'm not gonna lie and say this one was breaking any new ground. Though the undo function and level editor are great additions.

C Tier 

Camouflage: Now this is a great puzzle game, incredibly creative and intuitive with its concept of playing a stealth game as a chameleon. Each level comes with a ton of ah-ha moments and being able to rewind whenever you mess up is a nice touch. It's a bit on the short side though, this concept could easily sustain an entire fully-priced release.

A Tier 

Campanella: This game reminds me a lot of Hot Air from Nitrome, tasking you with carefully navigating through tight corridors without touching the walls. It's tough but the controls feel great, the levels are quite varied, and there's lots of hidden secrets to find, no wonder this was UFOSoft's biggest hit.

S Tier 

Golfaria: I really like this one conceptually, being a top-down open-world Zelda-like controlled entirely by hitting a golf ball around. It looks and plays nice too, and there's a lot to discover. However, I think the concept of having limited strokes holds Golfaria back severely by punishing you for exploring. Minit, this one is not.

D Tier 

The Big Bell Race: Possibly the easiest and shortest UFO 50 game, being a racing game spinoff of Campanella with very exploitable AI. This is the first game I cherried, but I still had a great time with it because of the chaotic UFO combat and item balancing. I can see this being a total hit in multiplayer.

A Tier 

Warptank: The control scheme for Warptank is simple but very effective in how it blends puzzle with action, and with a good amount of levels, a big hub to explore, and lots of varied level gimmicks, this game could easily stand out as its own release. If it wasn't for the jittery scrolling, an authentic addition that I could see hurting some people's eyes, this would rival Mooncat as my favorite UFO 50 game.

S Tier  

Waldorf's Journey: Out of all the games in UFO 50, this one feels the most like a flash game, even with its poppy rainbow aesthetics. It's really short and very basic, though there is just enough RNG to make it frustratingly kinda addictive.

D Tier 

Porgy: Porgy is a slightly better Golfaria. Having to return to your base every time you get an item or run low on fuel is still kind of annoying, but the smoother gameplay, stellar atmosphere, and more intuitive map design made it a bit more palatable for me.

C Tier 

Onion Delivery: Onion Delivery is purposefully chaotic, basically asking what if Crazy Taxi had zombies, aliens, bad weather conditions, and onions that chased after you. The controls are unweildy maybe even to a fault, but I do think it adds to the hectic and unhinged vibe that makes this one so charming.

B Tier

Caramel Caramel: Man, this one's frustrating. I love shmups and Caramel Caramel has so much going for it, between the smooth controls, lush visuals, and fun camera mechanic reminiscent of Touhou 9.5. However, the godawful lives system that starts you off with nothing holds the game back from being a potential favorite, and is all the more baffling considering other shmups from the 80s were never this strict with lives. 

C Tier 

Party House: A pretty fun strategic deck-builder with a really clever and creative concept. While I personally didn't find Party House as addicting as some others may have felt, I still found it to be pretty charming and enjoyable. It feels like the winner of a game jam, and I mean that in a good way.

A Tier 

Hot Foot: This might be a bit of a hot take (no pun intended) but I found this more fun than Bushido Ball. It's a bit slower paced, but tossing beanbags around is suitably chaotic and frantic. I just wish my AI partner wouldn't keep getting in the way.

B Tier 

Divers: Booooooorrrrriiiiiiinnnnngggggg... This game has you slowly dive downwards through dark sea tunnels while grinding out turn-based battles. I like that most of the games force you to learn for yourself, but Divers' mechanics are so complex that I found the lack of guidance to be a massive detriment. Atmosphere is pretty neat though.

F Tier 

Rail Heist: Rail Heist manages to condense an immersive stealth sim into such a small and focused package and it's wonderful. The concept alone of a game entirely composed of western train heists is so cool, and each stage gives you tons of different options for completing it. An easy standout for me.

S Tier 

Vainger: Metroid crossed with Metal Storm? Sign me the hell up! This is a really solid metroidvania with a fairly open map that is still able to guide you in the right direction. My one gripe is that enemies don't give you health, something even the original NES Metroid did, but that's a really small issue. Otherwise, Vainger is another banger.

S Tier  

Rock On Island: Pretty fun tower defense game that's very easy to pick up and have a good time with. It's not the most ground-breaking one out there, but the way it plays out like a top-down RPG and the fun synergistic strategies you can come up with make for yet another great one.

A Tier 

Pingolf: Pingolf is as fun as it is comically frustrating. The dunk mechanic is such a cool concept for a golfing game, and the course design utilizes it incredibly well. But man, does it feel like the pits are perfectly placed for my golf ball to end up in every single time. It could just be a skill issue, but hey, at least I'm still enjoying myself.

A Tier 

Mortol II: Ehhh, Mortol II certainly isn't bad but it isn't quite as cool as the original. The open world and 99 lives system means that it just isn't as tight as the first Mortol, and suffers from a similar trial-and-error element to Golfaria and Porgy. It's a solid platformer that plays well, but I didn't find it too amazing.

C Tier 

Fist Hell: Fist Hell suffers from a similar issue to Caramel Caramel in that it's a really fun beat-em-up with lots of charm, cool environmental interaction, and exciting setpieces, but the difficulty is just a bit too overtuned with how many enemies there are.

C Tier 

Overbold: Overbold is for the most part a pretty fun arena-based roguelike with some cool concepts like the ability to choose to raise the enemy count for a higher price, but the massive difficulty spike that is the final match feels like it comes a bit too soon.

B Tier 

Campanella 2: An incredibly unique blend of Blaster Master, Campanella, and Spelunky that is certainly fun, but definitely shows off why I don't love roguelikes. The RNG level design just feels sloppier than the tight design of the original Campanella and runs are long enough that dying really stings. Props for having a health bar though.

C Tier 

Hyper Contender: This might be one of UFO 50's biggest sleeper hits, and easily my favorite out of the fighting/sports games. Basically a 2D Power Stone where every character has an entirely unique moveset and projectile arc making each match feel really engaging, and I love the gothic atmosphere too.

A Tier 

Valbrace: I wasn't expecting much from the dungeon crawler but Valbrace is actually really good? It's really fast-paced and snappy, and the real-time battle system is super unique and fun, almost reminds me of Crossed Swords. 

A Tier 

Rakshasa: I like the concept of how death works in this game, but the actual platforming mechanics aren't the best. For what's supposed to be a clone of Ghosts & Goblins, a very fast and frantic game, you move really slow here and it makes dealing with the fast-moving enemies pretty frustrating.

D Tier 

Star Waspir: Geez, what's with the shmups in this game? Like with Caramel Caramel, Star Waspir is really crunchy, plays quite well, and is generally pretty fun. But also like with Caramel Caramel, it gives you like barely any lives off the bat and immediately throws you into the deep end.

C Tier 

Grimstone: Grimstone just impresses me, a full Final Fantasy-esque RPG set in a unique western setting with timing-based combat and even the ability to choose your party. While it does suffer from the same grinding issues that many games of the era suffer from, especially considering XP is evenly distributed among your party for some odd reason, I still have to give this one a ton of respect.

B Tier 

Lords Of Diskonia: This is kind of a funny strategy game, with combat mostly consisting of literally flinging different enemy types at each other. It can be a bit slow since players still have to take turns, but I can see this being pretty dumb fun with a friend.

B Tier 

Night Manor: A horror point-and click, it's a fun tone shift compared to the otherwise lighthearted collection with great atmosphere. I think I still prefer more standard survival horrors to the Clock Tower formula, but this is still an undeniably well-crafted game.

B Tier 

Elfazar's Hat: Could it be? A shmup that starts you off with three lives?! Elfazar's Hat is still brutal, but it feels way more in line with other games of the era on top of being an adorable throwback to Pocky & Rocky with a snappy dodge move, fun level design, and gorgeous pastel visuals.

A Tier 

Pilot Quest: I'm pretty split on this one because I don't exactly like idle games, though this one seems more involved than most since it does actually play out like a standard adventure game. The presentation is quite nice, I just find grinding for crystals and doing fetch quests really damn boring.

C Tier 

Mini & Max: Yeah, this one's pretty great. A very fun and creative exploration game that turns a small closet into a big open world. I don't think it hit quite like Mooncat did for me, but it's still a ton of fun and an easy Top 3 contender.

S Tier 

Combatants: I can forgive Combatants being in this collection because it's obviously meant to be the point where UFOSoft lost their way, but that doesn't make it good. This game is slow, boring, and lacks any of the fun factor or strategy of something like Attactics or Lords Of Diskonia.

F Tier 

Quibble Race: Okay so I already wasn't gonna like the race betting one but on my first playthrough, I bet on a Quibble with a 100% win rate only for it to get sick and die. What an amazing first impression. I like all the references to other UFO 50 games, it is quite charming, but this shit isn't fun.

D Tier 

Seaside Drive: Yeah, this one's a banger. OutRun crossed with a shmup is such a bonkers premise executed near perfectly. There's a bit of a learning curve to managing your ammo but once it clicks, this game feels so juicy and satisfying, and the backgrounds are lovely.

S Tier 

Campanella 3: I've mostly been able to adjust to UFO 50's more unconventional control schemes, but Campanella 3 is the one case where it feels like it's actively detracting from what's otherwise a pretty good game. This is a mostly fun and creative 3D shmup, but shooting enemies on your axis feels really clunky with how you have to be moving in a direction away from your target.

B Tier

Cyber Owls: Cyber Owls feels like it was intended to be UFOSoft's last ditch effort, throwing everything they could at the wall to see what stuck. The result is very uneven but there's some great stuff here. The Shatterhand stage was awesome and could easily have been my favorite UFO 50 game if it was its own thing. The gallery shooter was also pretty good, if unoriginal. The stealth and especially the racing shmup levels, on the other hand, were a bit weaker, not enough to bring down the game massively for me but weaker nonetheless. A solid final game, I'd say.

B Tier 

So, what did I think about UFO 50? Well, overall, I like it a lot. This is a very impressive collection with plenty of great games that I found myself adoring like Mooncat, Velgress, Rail Heist, Warptank, Vainger, and Seaside Drive. It's more than worth its price for those games alone, and the whole metatextual element of how UFO 50 details the history of a fictional console developer from the 80s is fascinating. However, there's a sense of inconsistency here that I found increasingly frustrating as the collection went on. Not an inconsistency with the quality of the games, that I'm fine with, but an inconsistency with how these games stick to UFO 50's rules.

So games like Barbuta or Cyber Owls are purposefully designed with the meta context in mind, Barbuta feeling like an authentic 1982 game and Cyber Owls feeling like a rushed product by a struggling game developer. But then, there's games like Ninpek or Camouflage that feel deliberately modernized, either through more fluid controls or more generous design. That would be cool if the whole collection was like that, but there's also instances like Caramel Caramel and Star Waspir starting you off with barely any lives, Vainger not giving you health by killing enemies, Rakshasa's slow movement, the lack of any guidance even though manuals existed, all these design choices that feel regressive even compared to the 80s games they're based on. Why does Warptank have jittery scrolling but not Mortol which came out years before it? Why is Star Waspir 16:9 when it's a vertical shmup? I hate to say it but I just can't fully buy the fictional console narrative when most of these games either feel like worse versions of classic retro games or creative game jam games that don't exactly feel retro.

Still, even with those flaws, this is still, at its core, a collection of 50 games with at least half of them being pretty great, which is way more than I can say about UFO 50's main inspiration, the legendarily bad Action 52. And at the very least, I don't think I'll ever forget Mooncat any time soon.

4.5/5 Stars 

So to wrap this up, here's my ranking: 

1. Mooncat
2. Warptank
3. Mini & Max
4. Rail Heist
5. Vainger
6. Seaside Drive 
7. Velgress
8. Campanella
9. Mortol
10. Camouflage
11. Party House
12. Valbrace
13. Pingolf
14. Kick Club
15. Hyper Contender
16. Elfazar's Hat
17. Attactics
18. Rock On! Island
19. Grimstone
20. Night Manor
21. The Big Bell Race 
22. Paint Chase 
23. Overbold
24. Cyber Owls 
25. Magic Garden
26. Campanella 3 
27. Hot Foot 
28. Lords Of Diskonia
29. Campanella 2
30. Caramel Caramel
31. Onion Delivery
32. Block Koala
33. Ninpek
34. Fist Hell
35. Star Waspir
36. Porgy
37. Bug Hunter
38. Mortol II
39. Pilot Quest
40. Bushido Ball
41. Golfaria
42. Rakshasa
43. Devilition
44. Barbuta
45. Avianos
46. Waldorf's Journey
47. Quibble Race 
48. Planet Zoldath
49. Divers
50. Combatants 

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 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