Okay, so someone on the Kirby's Return to Dream Land GameFAQ board had the great idea of assigning members to review abilities in the game and post them. So, naturally, I signed up for a few abilities! The only thing is, when I was working on my first review, for the Water ability, I noticed two distinct things.
One, it was becoming really, really long. Like, it ended up needing three posts on GameFAQs just to hold it.
Two, it was really fun to write.
And so I first thought, "maybe I should put this somewhere where I can go on for longer without running out of space" and then I thought "would it maybe be fun if I did a review for every ability in the game instead of just the three I got here?"
And so I came to the conclusion that I would post any and all ability reviews I came up with on here, my blog where I post random silly things like reviews for abilities in Kirby. So without further adieu, here's the first of my Ability Reviews, Water Kirby!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
MLP:FiM Season 2 Review #4 - Luna Eclipsed
After over a year of waiting, and 28 episodes ever, we finally have our Luna episode! Woohoo! Will she be like the fans imagined, way better, or way worse? Will the MLP community shatter under the pressure of having a canon Luna finally?
Spoilers: they're actually doing pretty well from what I've seen. Let's get right to this! This'll contain spoilers and such, as per usual.
This time I'm gonna try to be less... plot-summary-y. I think I relied far too much on that in my last reviews, so hopefully this one will read more like a... well, more like an actual review!
Spoilers: they're actually doing pretty well from what I've seen. Let's get right to this! This'll contain spoilers and such, as per usual.
This time I'm gonna try to be less... plot-summary-y. I think I relied far too much on that in my last reviews, so hopefully this one will read more like a... well, more like an actual review!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
MLP:FiM Season 2 Review #3 - Lesson Zero
Hey everypony! After the two week hiatus, I'm back again to give you my thoughts on the newest episode of My Little Pony, Lesson Zero.
I'm going to be doing this review a liiittle differently. While the previous ones were strictly first-impressions, deliberately written after I watched the episode on TV, before watching it a second time via internet means. This time I'm going to go ahead and watch it the second time while writing this post. What does this mean? Well, it means I can think more about the content of the episode as a whole instead of just as a first impression, which I figure will be good. Is that good? I think it's good.
Watch this episode on YouTube here.
As usual, SPOILERS.
I'm going to be doing this review a liiittle differently. While the previous ones were strictly first-impressions, deliberately written after I watched the episode on TV, before watching it a second time via internet means. This time I'm going to go ahead and watch it the second time while writing this post. What does this mean? Well, it means I can think more about the content of the episode as a whole instead of just as a first impression, which I figure will be good. Is that good? I think it's good.
Watch this episode on YouTube here.
As usual, SPOILERS.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
MLP:FiM Season 2 Review #2 - The Return of Harmony (part 2)
Yes this is still happening; no one can be as surprised as I am. As before, be wary of SPOILERS!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
MLP:FiM Season 2 Review #1 - The Return of Harmony (part 1)
So yeah, I've totally been into the new My Little Pony show for a while now. Season two just started up this morning, and I thought it would be fun to post little episode reviews on my blog as the episodes came out! After all, I got up at 7 AM to watch the darn episode live and I bought a new channel package from the TV provider just to watch the season, so let's make it into something fun!
Warning: these reviews are absolutely going to contain SPOILERS! I guess I could do spoiler-free reviews, but frankly I just think it'd be more fun if I didn't try to hold back. Not to mention with a show like this it's hard to establish what constitutes spoilers in the first place. So I highly recommend that you watch the series yourself, first. It's all on YouTube, after all!
Anyway, onto episode 1 of season two, The Return of Harmony (part 1)!
Warning: these reviews are absolutely going to contain SPOILERS! I guess I could do spoiler-free reviews, but frankly I just think it'd be more fun if I didn't try to hold back. Not to mention with a show like this it's hard to establish what constitutes spoilers in the first place. So I highly recommend that you watch the series yourself, first. It's all on YouTube, after all!
Anyway, onto episode 1 of season two, The Return of Harmony (part 1)!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Because, Frankly, I Want to See More Remakes
YES I KNOW, REMAKES ARE AWFUL AND LAZY AND BLAH. But I was thinking about a certain game and I realized that this certain game, though one I am personally quite fond of, hasn't really stood up to the test of time. At all. So, anyway, let me get to my point.
Sonic Adventure 3DS.
No, not a third Sonic Adventure game. Sonic Adventure 1, for the 3DS. I want this. Let me elaborate:
Sonic Adventure (or, as I played it, Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut) is one of my favorite Sonic games for a number of reasons. For one, it has one of my favorite stories within the series, a great blend of serious and playful. It also introduced the very interesting backstory of Knuckles and even pulled from some of the coolest things in real life, like the Mayan pyramids. Overall, the story felt really heartfelt and the characters in it were really likeable and relatable, especially Tikal and Gamma. The only other Sonic game that got to SA1's height of storytelling was its sequel, but I personally prefer the former, and the latter is still very playable today.
The other thing SA1 really did right was its gameplay. While not nearly as refined as, say, Mario 64, it managed to be a very fun game and set a great standard that a grand total of one later Sonic game stood up to. It also managed to actually keep up the fast pace that Sonic was known for throughout: even though it has multiple playstyles, all of the characters, with the exception of Big, were built for speed and were rewarded for being quick. This is one thing that even SA2 stumbled on, as any levels outside of Sonic's and Shadow's were... well, really slow!
Unfortunately, SA1's presentation, while fine for the time, doesn't really hold up now. The models are... bad... and certain character animations (like talking) are utterly atrocious. It's kind of hard to appreciate a game's story when your protagonist has a bad habit of looking like some kind of evil puppet in most cutscenes!
So SA1 is a flawed gem; a great game that, with some modern-day polish, could really shine! And what game does that sound like? Here's a hint: it starts with "The Legend of Zelda", ends in "Time", and is being remade for the 3DS. So, naturally, I would love to see SA1 get a similar treatment!
Outside of fixing some of the awful animations, I would like to see the actual gameplay polished a tad. It's great as-is, but making things a little less slippery and more predictable, like maybe adding the modern-day reticule to Sonic's homing attack, would go a long way. Obviously, Big's gameplay should be changed, as it stands out now as a slow distraction from the point of Sonic. Of course, this could be difficult, as Big is naturally a bulky, slow character... perhaps his gameplay could be akin to the classic Sonic water levels? They could be slower and more puzzle-based, and since Sonic Adventure doesn't feature any true underwater levels, Big could fill that void.
If Sega is willing to go beyond a normal port, SA3DS would be phenomenal, and possibly even a good way for them to go back to the Adventure games and learn from their level design. The only huge issue I can see is if Sega can't get back into the "groove" and ends up hurting the original design rather than enhancing it, but Sega hasn't done too badly recently. I think that, if they tried, they could really bring out a bit more shine from SA. And that would be great!
...though, since this all seems pretty unlikely at this point, I'll just have to hope Sonic Generations has a Sonic Adventure level or two!
Sonic Adventure 3DS.
No, not a third Sonic Adventure game. Sonic Adventure 1, for the 3DS. I want this. Let me elaborate:
Sonic Adventure (or, as I played it, Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut) is one of my favorite Sonic games for a number of reasons. For one, it has one of my favorite stories within the series, a great blend of serious and playful. It also introduced the very interesting backstory of Knuckles and even pulled from some of the coolest things in real life, like the Mayan pyramids. Overall, the story felt really heartfelt and the characters in it were really likeable and relatable, especially Tikal and Gamma. The only other Sonic game that got to SA1's height of storytelling was its sequel, but I personally prefer the former, and the latter is still very playable today.
The other thing SA1 really did right was its gameplay. While not nearly as refined as, say, Mario 64, it managed to be a very fun game and set a great standard that a grand total of one later Sonic game stood up to. It also managed to actually keep up the fast pace that Sonic was known for throughout: even though it has multiple playstyles, all of the characters, with the exception of Big, were built for speed and were rewarded for being quick. This is one thing that even SA2 stumbled on, as any levels outside of Sonic's and Shadow's were... well, really slow!
Unfortunately, SA1's presentation, while fine for the time, doesn't really hold up now. The models are... bad... and certain character animations (like talking) are utterly atrocious. It's kind of hard to appreciate a game's story when your protagonist has a bad habit of looking like some kind of evil puppet in most cutscenes!
So SA1 is a flawed gem; a great game that, with some modern-day polish, could really shine! And what game does that sound like? Here's a hint: it starts with "The Legend of Zelda", ends in "Time", and is being remade for the 3DS. So, naturally, I would love to see SA1 get a similar treatment!
Outside of fixing some of the awful animations, I would like to see the actual gameplay polished a tad. It's great as-is, but making things a little less slippery and more predictable, like maybe adding the modern-day reticule to Sonic's homing attack, would go a long way. Obviously, Big's gameplay should be changed, as it stands out now as a slow distraction from the point of Sonic. Of course, this could be difficult, as Big is naturally a bulky, slow character... perhaps his gameplay could be akin to the classic Sonic water levels? They could be slower and more puzzle-based, and since Sonic Adventure doesn't feature any true underwater levels, Big could fill that void.
If Sega is willing to go beyond a normal port, SA3DS would be phenomenal, and possibly even a good way for them to go back to the Adventure games and learn from their level design. The only huge issue I can see is if Sega can't get back into the "groove" and ends up hurting the original design rather than enhancing it, but Sega hasn't done too badly recently. I think that, if they tried, they could really bring out a bit more shine from SA. And that would be great!
...though, since this all seems pretty unlikely at this point, I'll just have to hope Sonic Generations has a Sonic Adventure level or two!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - Day 1 (05/23/10)
WELL ideally I will be getting a certain amazing game later today. So I've decided I will keep progress here for posterity or something! I will be updating this post continuously throughout the day with my progress and thoughts on the game, and that'll be pretty sweet I think.
First, I'll put down some pre-play thoughts:
*I fully expect Galaxy 2 to be better than Galaxy
*I hope the final boss is tougher and less anticlimactic
*I hope the story makes more sense and ties into Galaxy in some way rather than just being a "reboot"
*Rosalina had better make an appearance, and not just as the Space Witch lady
*I hope there's a third playable character, even if it's just Yoshi solo or something
*I hope there's at least one more new power-up we don't know about yet, like Flying Mario was in Galaxy
*Speaking of Flying Mario, I hope he's in and used more
*I really hope that power-ups like Fire Mario don't have a time limit any more!
*SO PSYCHEDDD
(NOTE: There will be spoilers in my descriptions. You have been WARNED.)
1:11 - Suuupppeeeer Marrriooo Galaxxxyyyyy 2!
1:14 - Interesting opening sequence, but with the classic 1-1 block formation. Niiice.
1:16 - Oh, hey, uh, Bowser. You're looking large today!
1:19 - That whole bit about making more sense than Galaxy isn't looking good. XP
1:29 - It seems like levels are longer and have more coins. I wonder if there are any 100-coin Stars? Also, Mario is still abusive to Piranha Plants.
1:30 - Ooh, a running coin total? I wonder if I get to buy anything...
1:43 - How you know a game is awesome: Banzai Bills on stage 2. HECK YEAH. Also, a use for crawling???
1:57 - Yoshi is amazing. Predictably. Also, I have 33 lives already! XD
2:04 - THIS is what Galaxy was missing: the pwnage of Lakitus.
3:06 - Didn't I own you last game, Bugaboom? Eh, whatever. STOMPITY.
3:09 - First death. On "The Puzzling Picture Block", trying to get the Comet Coin. 70 lives left. XP
3:19 - Dash Yoshi is kind of tough to control! Several deaths ensue.
3:46 - Music is fantastic, btw. Cosmic Cove Galaxy has especially amazing music. Club Nintendo should have the soundtrack as the Platinum prize this year. :D
4:22 - So the STARS are the steroids! Got it. Oh, and Bowser 1 = defeated. To the face.
4:35 - Hit the 99 lives limit. The lives are like NSMBW. SO MANYYYY. I actually hope it doesn't save the lives so that I can collect more later!
4:37 - No hatless Mario with 99 lives? Aww.
4:40 - The remixes in this game are GREAT. :D
4:55 - IT'S WEEGEE TIIIME. Honestly I'm not sure why I would ever play as Mario again.
5:56 - Okay, Dinner time and then homework. I guess that's all for the moment! Overall consensus so far is that it is a LOT of fun, and quite possibly even better than Galaxy! I'll keep this post updated.
8:02 - Playing again. Really the biggest disappointment of Galaxy 2 is that some songs seem to be reused from Galaxy... slackers. >:o Also, lives don't save. This is actually a good thing.
8:03 - OKAY the game just HEAVILY implied Rosalina exists. I'm happy with that!
8:05 - Still can't jump on Bullet Bills. Dang.
8:30 - Y'know, these Wigglers are actually really small if you compare their size to the Goombas (Supermassive Galaxy - Huge Trouble with Big Wigglers).
10: 29 - Okay, I'm officially done for the night. *yawn* Final totals: 55 Stars, on World 5, 26 Comet Coins, 1366 Coins, and 2089 Star Bits.
First, I'll put down some pre-play thoughts:
*I fully expect Galaxy 2 to be better than Galaxy
*I hope the final boss is tougher and less anticlimactic
*I hope the story makes more sense and ties into Galaxy in some way rather than just being a "reboot"
*Rosalina had better make an appearance, and not just as the Space Witch lady
*I hope there's a third playable character, even if it's just Yoshi solo or something
*I hope there's at least one more new power-up we don't know about yet, like Flying Mario was in Galaxy
*Speaking of Flying Mario, I hope he's in and used more
*I really hope that power-ups like Fire Mario don't have a time limit any more!
*SO PSYCHEDDD
(NOTE: There will be spoilers in my descriptions. You have been WARNED.)
1:11 - Suuupppeeeer Marrriooo Galaxxxyyyyy 2!
1:14 - Interesting opening sequence, but with the classic 1-1 block formation. Niiice.
1:16 - Oh, hey, uh, Bowser. You're looking large today!
1:19 - That whole bit about making more sense than Galaxy isn't looking good. XP
1:29 - It seems like levels are longer and have more coins. I wonder if there are any 100-coin Stars? Also, Mario is still abusive to Piranha Plants.
1:30 - Ooh, a running coin total? I wonder if I get to buy anything...
1:43 - How you know a game is awesome: Banzai Bills on stage 2. HECK YEAH. Also, a use for crawling???
1:57 - Yoshi is amazing. Predictably. Also, I have 33 lives already! XD
2:04 - THIS is what Galaxy was missing: the pwnage of Lakitus.
3:06 - Didn't I own you last game, Bugaboom? Eh, whatever. STOMPITY.
3:09 - First death. On "The Puzzling Picture Block", trying to get the Comet Coin. 70 lives left. XP
3:19 - Dash Yoshi is kind of tough to control! Several deaths ensue.
3:46 - Music is fantastic, btw. Cosmic Cove Galaxy has especially amazing music. Club Nintendo should have the soundtrack as the Platinum prize this year. :D
4:22 - So the STARS are the steroids! Got it. Oh, and Bowser 1 = defeated. To the face.
4:35 - Hit the 99 lives limit. The lives are like NSMBW. SO MANYYYY. I actually hope it doesn't save the lives so that I can collect more later!
4:37 - No hatless Mario with 99 lives? Aww.
4:40 - The remixes in this game are GREAT. :D
4:55 - IT'S WEEGEE TIIIME. Honestly I'm not sure why I would ever play as Mario again.
5:56 - Okay, Dinner time and then homework. I guess that's all for the moment! Overall consensus so far is that it is a LOT of fun, and quite possibly even better than Galaxy! I'll keep this post updated.
8:02 - Playing again. Really the biggest disappointment of Galaxy 2 is that some songs seem to be reused from Galaxy... slackers. >:o Also, lives don't save. This is actually a good thing.
8:03 - OKAY the game just HEAVILY implied Rosalina exists. I'm happy with that!
8:05 - Still can't jump on Bullet Bills. Dang.
8:30 - Y'know, these Wigglers are actually really small if you compare their size to the Goombas (Supermassive Galaxy - Huge Trouble with Big Wigglers).
10: 29 - Okay, I'm officially done for the night. *yawn* Final totals: 55 Stars, on World 5, 26 Comet Coins, 1366 Coins, and 2089 Star Bits.
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