I completed Super Mario Strikers on the Nintendo GameCube this afternoon!

Many years ago, my friend picked up a copy of Super Mario Strikers on the Nintendo GameCube. He wanted to do a Co-Op playthrough of the game and we did and it was an absolute blast. We loved every moment of it and so I knew I had to pick up the game for myself. So, when I beat my Backlog, it was one of the games added to my GameCube list and I eventually picked up a copy for myself later on. After playing it back in 2022, I thought it would be a fun and easy game to go back. Looking for something just like that, I decided to pop it back and finish it up.

Super Mario Strikers is a Mario Soccer game in the loosest sense and the most Arcadey form. There are no penalties, special weapons are constantly used and there is an electrified fence around the entire field that you can check your opponent into. The game quickly devolves from Soccer and turns into one of the violent sports games you can ever imagine and it is fantastic. The game has only a little of the rubber band effect that comes with most Arcade Sports titles, so it never gets too cheap to play. Checking your opponents will never get old and I love throwing bombs and shells at my opponent the second they catch the ball. The game has incredibly tight and responsive controls that after one game, you should have it completely mastered. You can do quick passes, super shorts and switching characters in just a heartbeat. All of the regular Nintendo Characters are there as Captains and the smaller characters are there as Sidekicks and this is the most personality you will see from these normally reserved characters. I am expecting them to tell me to Suck It or Kiss My Ass at any moment, which is shocking coming from Nintendo.

Overall, I absolutely loved playing Super Mario Strikers. There is a part of me that loves Mario Golf, but the excitement and just joy to play makes Super Mario Strikers my favorite Mario Sports game that I have ever played. I don't think it could ever get old and the joy that comes from this game is just unmatched. I found it that the game is developed by Next Level Games, who was responsible for NHL Hitz Pro, one of the best Hockey games ever made, so I know that they know how to make a good arcade Sports title. Even if you only have a mild interest in Sports, this is still a fantastic game and one that is very easy to get into!

Evo 2 is still one that I need to get around to tackling. I have both of them, but haven't finished the 1st one yet unfortunately as it's difficult for me to stay engaged with its repetitive nature. I'll be curious to hear what your thoughts on the sequel are after you finish it!

I beat Steel Empire on the Sega Genesis this evening!

Many years ago when I was creating my Genesis wishlist, I was amazed at how many good Shooters I found on the system. I now know that the Genesis is known for its Shoot'Em Ups, but discovering many games that looked interesting was eye opening to me. Unfortunately, that left me rather paralyzed as I never knew where to get started. Randomly, I found a video on YouTube talking about some of the best Shooters for Beginners and Steel Empire was on it. It looked very interesting and I was happy to see it was on my Wishlist, so it jumped up on my games to buy for the system. Looking for another Genesis game to play, I decided to jump in and see what it was all about.

Steel Empire is a horizontal Shoot'Em Up set in a SteamPunk style environment. With so many space Shooters, the Steam Punk style is the game's best characteristic. One of the planes you can choose from is a Zeppelin, which is very large, but it does have the most HP, so it is perfect for Beginners. The Steam Punk setting goes into the enemies, Bosses and story as it feels like a weird take on World War II. Besides the Zeppelin, the game has different difficulty settings and you don't have to mash the fire button as you can just hold it. With a large life bar and these quality of life improvements, the game was a nice step into the Shooter pool. Also, you have the unique ability of being able to fire backwards and forwards, which works remarkably well when you fight the large bosses and different enemy patterns.

Unfortunately, some of the bosses have incredibly tiny and hard to reach hit boxes, so it can be quite challenging to hit them on a consistent basis. And if you lose your two Option planes, then it becomes even harder. Also, there are parts in the game where you are forced to take damage. You don't know where to go and whats coming next, so you just have to plow through walls and hits the floor or ceilings of wherever you are.

Overall, I still really enjoyed Steel Empire. I have been getting into Shooters because of playing through several arcade games, so it was fun to play one on a console and be able to beat it. I think the game is a great Introductory Shooter game and something that anybody can enjoy. The music, graphics and slowdown aren't very technically impressive, but the ease of play and difficulty make them somewhat of a hidden gem. Give it a try if you are interested in trying the genre!

I completed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan on the Nintendo GameBoy this evening!

Before I had beat my Backlog, I thought I was finished with TMNT games. I owned and played through all of the classics on the NES, Genesis and SNES. A few short years ago, they made a new Turtles game that was amazing. I played that with a friend and then got it as a present. I was looking through my Wishlist and I realized that I had forgotten about the GameBoy games. The Backloggery Streams got me interested in those games, so when I did a big day of game shopping last year, I decided to pick up a copy of the first one. Now, I wanted to play a short and simple game for my GameBoy and I was glad that I did.

TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan is a rather short and simple game. It only has five levels with a boss at end of each level. You can actually select which level to start on from the menu screen, which is very forgiving. But, it is a single plane Beat'Em Up where you scroll to the right and enemies pop up behind you or in front of you. There is some platforming, but it is mostly just slowly walking and stopping to kill a little enemy here and there. It's actually really comforting and once you get in the groove of the game, it can feel a bit hypnotic. The boss fights can be a little annoying, but none of them were too difficult. If you have enough health, you can normally beat them as they all have very simple patterns. For a GameBoy game, it has some pretty nice visuals and the music is almost spot on. You hear the Turtles theme even from a GameBoy game and it is instantly recognizable. You know, sometimes, with these giant games with so much to do, it is nice to sit back and play a rather simple game that isn't too difficult. This one hits that target perfectly.

Overall, I really enjoyed TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan. The controls can feel a little sluggish, so it is easy to feel overwhelmed with all the enemies surrounding you. Also, the final level is a bit annoying. But, overall, the game is still really well done. It is nothing that blow anybody away or even top a list of the best GameBoy games of all time. But, this is a perfect game for the platform. It is something that can be beaten relatively easily and it is something that you pop in while on a car ride. If you can find the game for a decent price, I would recommend it. It is not a bad game to pass a few short hours on!

I completed Puzzle Kingdoms on the Nintendo Wii this evening!

Puzzle Quest is one of my favorite Hidden Gems on the PS2. It combines RPG elements with a Bejeweled style gameplay. Since college, I have loved to play those little flash games and Bejeweled was always one of my favorites. So, to be able to play it on my TV with a story and a leveling system had me sold instantly. With little physical releases and the series mostly going digital or on handhelds, unfortunately, I could not continue on with the series. Thankfully, the game got a successor on the Nintendo Wii and it was one of the first games I wanted to pick up. I enjoyed my playthrough of the game, but I knew that I was missing just a little bit more. With my batteries refreshed, I decided to go back and finish off what I had missed.

The gameplay is relatively the same though they did make some changes. Instead of swapping jewels to make three in a row, it's more of a sliding puzzle where you push the gems to make three in a row or three in a cluster. It adds a bit more of a strategic element to the game that sets it apart from Puzzle Quest. Puzzle Quest had insanity as combo after combo would happen. That is still here a bit in Puzzle Kingdoms, but its a bit like chess as well as you are strategically moving the board around. You also have small mini games to spend your gold to unlock characters, troops, items and spells to beef up your army. By the end, I felt quite powerful and it was really fun to see the progression of my army throughout the game.

With that being said, the game becomes a bit tiresome. 20 Kingdoms is a ton especially when the gameplay doesn't change all that much. Near the end, it began to drag especially when the Mini-Games became much harder. It no longer became a game of figuring out the puzzle, but more like waiting around until the RNG let you win. These little games took over 30 minutes and I didn't feel like I had control in many of them. The game is mostly fair, unlike in Puzzle Quest, though by the end, it began to sway a bit more away from me.

Overall, I enjoyed going back and finishing up all that I missed in Puzzle Quest. It was much shorter than I imagined, so that was a plus. I never tire of Bejeweled and the light RPG elements were incredibly fun. It's not an amazing game, but for a fun little game that is very cheap. If you like Bejeweled style puzzle games, Puzzle Kingdoms is a more strategic version that is still fun to play.

I beat 3D Dot Game Heroes on the Sony Playstation 3 this evening!

As a child, I didn't have many friends. So, when my older brothers weren't using it, I would always play my NES. I remember many weekends in Grade School, having nothing to do for the weekend, I would start a new quest of the original Legend of Zelda and finish it before the weekend was over. It was my beautiful escapism and one that shaped me as a gamer today. Because of that, 3D Dot Game Heroes was one of the big games that tempted me to pick up a PS3. Even though it took me a while to pick one up, the game was high on my Wishlist. After a bit of searching, I picked one up at a local convention last year and I knew that I had to play it soon.

I absolutely love the story in 3D Dot Game Heroes. A king has watched his poor 2D become neglected, so he had to change the entire world into 3D. I never felt so moved in my life as all worlds should remain in 2D. Once I started playing the game, I realized that it mixes some of my favorite games of all time in Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest all into one wonderful game. The game is a beautiful love letter to all those amazing 8 Bit Games and just a great homage to the wonder years of gaming. After just a few short moments, I was instantly hooked into the game and I was back in my parents' basement playing these games again. The game never tries to be anything more than them and I appreciate that. It knows what it is and it never really tries to be anything more. But, once all the nostalgia wears off, the game is still really fun and enjoyable. You traverse an overworld, you go through dungeons, beat huge bosses, collect a heart container and then do it again. Its really quite simple and it all really works. The dialogue and characters are humorous and it is just an enjoyable experience.

Overall, I loved playing 3D Dot Game Heroes. The final dungeon is an absolute bear and almost felt like 2/3's of the game. Also, you are always strap for cash and there isn't really a great way to get money, so you have to be very tight. I would say those are just minor flaws in an overall great experience. The nostalgia and feelings I got from the game overwhelmed any negativity I might have had for it. If you loved those classic games, then this is obviously a no brainer and an easy recommendation. Even if you have never played them, this is a good introduction and just a solid adventure all around to enjoy!