The argument against musical authenticity

When people make a blog, they generally aim to give it some sort of purpose or direction. This, of course, applies to YouTube channels, video streaming platforms, podcasts, or whatever. My YouTube channel, for example, focuses on media analysis. I once was part of a podcast with some friends where we discussed the evolution of our own personal video game experiences.

Point being, this blog not only has been underutilized, but it also doesn't really have any focus or point. And I really like that.

So instead of writing about anything that could possibly relate to my experience on YouTube as a content creator like all prior posts, I instead want to take time away from working on the numerous projects I'm working on as a college student to complain about an archaic method of music instruction that has resulted in my complete disinterest in music performance.

That may sound like a real thesis, but I promise I'll try and keep things fairly concise. That way I won't waste too much time and can start working on the actual 20-page thesis that I need to do.

***

The Story

I started playing piano at the age of 5, and had weekly lessons with an incredibly friendly, caring, and all-around lovely instructor, and she taught me almost everything I know, all the way from J. Bastien's Piano Basics to L.V. Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique, all three movements. I was always pretty flexible with what music I played because, up until high school, I never really listened to music recreationally. There were other students of hers that fell in love with certain styles and, while my teacher was not at all proficient with Elton John, she let her students go in the direction their musical journey took them, which I find particularly respectable.

At times, she and I disagreed on how certain parts of a song should be performed. The Beethoven piece I mentioned earlier was a particular source of debate, as I felt the first movement should have been played far faster than she believed it should. I wasn't really much of a fighter back then, so I always went with her suggestion, although there was always some discussion on those topics, which helped me learn.

Now I'm a junior in college finishing up a music minor, and what once were minor sources of debate have since come to the forefront. I go into my piano lesson, my teacher tells me that these notes and rhythms are wrong, and then I leave. There's very little musical discussion because the teacher argues that no musical discussion can happen until the notes and rhythms are right. Because of this single-track, binary approach to music performance, any aspect of actually enjoying the instrument is all but lost.

***

Wrong Doesn't Exist

The problem described above doesn't bother most music students because they somehow manage to enjoy their particular instrument in spite of the rigorous tedium and right/wrong approach. There are a lot of possible reasons why this is the case, and I'm sure it depends on the particular student. Before I continue I have to acknowledge that I am outside the norm in my complaints.

I was originally going to bring up specific examples and try to debunk why the mistakes I made weren't actually mistakes, but not only is that incredibly pretentious and a waste of time, but it's also incredibly closed-minded and basically serves to dismantle my own point: that point being that any set of notes or chords is right. The only time something is wrong is when the performer themselves decides that something is wrong.

The only argument I have ever gotten as to why something is wrong in a piece of music is because my performance of it contradicts what is written on the page. But why should the page in any way affect my interpretation of a particular work? The page should serve as a guideline for what a performer should play. It should not be the defining factor in the quality of a performance.

The only time a song is really by Mozart is when Mozart himself sits at the piano and plays his sonatina or whatever, in the same way that the only time a song is really by The Beatles is when you pop in Sgt. Pepper's and listen to The Beatles' performance. If I perform a song that's by Mozart, then that's essentially my cover of that song; it's my version of the song. By that logic, if I play a C sharp instead of a C natural and I the performer don't think it sounds bad, then that's part of my version of this piece and should not be rejected unless I myself reject it.

This extends even further when talking about dynamics (volume, essentially) and articulation (how hard or soft a key is hit, essentially). One of the most ridiculous examples of this came when I performed a song whose title translates to "Important Event" and my teacher complained that my performance was too loud. If an event is important, then I'm going to play the piece loudly because it's a big deal. That's my interpretation of what the title means. Other people could argue that important means that the piece should sound more reserved in tone, maybe majestic or something. That's fine, but that's not my interpretation on my coverage of this piece. Remember, the only time the piece is actually by Schumann (in this case) is when Schumann himself sits at the piano and plays the piece himself.

Let me support my point with some evidence! Here's a really awesome Johnny Cash song called "Folsom Prison Blues":

And here's a cover of that song by Hungarian groove metal band Ektomorf:

Of course, this song is a completely different style from the western classical tradition, but that shouldn't matter: music is music. In fact, blues is arguably more important and influential than western classical, so it should not at all be dismissed.

Let's list the differences between these two versions!

• The tempo remains consistent throughout the Johnny Cash version, where Zoli Farkas (singer of Ektomorf) sings the first in a slower tempo, sacrificing the groove to bring some more emotion to the performance.
• After the opening verse, the Ektomorf version is generally faster.
• There's no electric guitar at all in the Ektomorf version.
• The two singers sing completely different melodic lines with completely different rhythms. If you were to put the notes these guys were singing on a staff, they'd almost never line up.
• The Ektomorf version is in a completely different key.
• There's some cool static in the opening of the Ektomorf version.
• Cash uses a clean vocal singing style, while Farkas uses a more gritty, rough tone.
• Farkas struggles to pronounce some of the English words (ex. "that's what's tortures")
• The drum performance is completely different.

There are plenty more differences than these, but does that make the Ektomorf version wrong? Not at all! Even the misspoken words are not wrong because Zoli Farkas didn't consider them to be wrong in recording. If anything, the misspoken words speaks to his heritage and the fact that English isn't his first language. It adds a new sort of heart to the performance that wasn't there in the Cash version. I also personally prefer the rougher vocal tone, the full-acoustic sound, and the slower, more heartfelt opening verse.

All things considered, I consider the Ektomorf performance to be superior to the Johnny Cash recording, and I say this with the knowledge that almost every single note and rhythm is completely different from the original.

Wrong doesn't exist.

***

Conclusion

I didn't tell the full story earlier about my experience at college, as this current instructor of mine is actually the second I've had at this school. The first is... dead.

That's a whole other story onto itself but, to slightly divert from the original topic, I never really appreciated the incredible teacher I had before he was gone. He gave me incredibly difficult pieces with the knowledge that I would never once play exactly what was written on the page, but he didn't care because he knew that in that experience I was learning and I was enjoying myself.

I'm no music major, and I have no intention of ever going into music performance professionally. Therefore, even if I make mistakes that I truly consider to be mistakes, I have very little desire to repair those errors in favor of simply enjoying the song and my crappy performance for what it is. Some of my favorite things to do on the piano with western classical music include playing Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" at 180bpm (about 3x faster than what is indicated on the page) and playing through Debussy's "Golliwog's Cakewalk" with random tempo and style changes throughout. Outside of the classical sphere, I enjoy playing random ragtime riffs, following along to the chord progressions of songs I listen to regularly, and playing through the synth part of "Simple Things" by Zero 7 while attempting (and largely failing) to improvise a melody with my right hand. Undertaking the challenge of complex piano pieces was equally as thrilling as the challenge of playing through a classical piece I know in a different style or improvising a melody to that Zero 7 chord progression. I think my instructor last year understood that mentality, which is why, during my last lesson, he warned me about the other instructors in the college and how they approach things differently.

Now, instead of doing the things I enjoy, I'm playing "third-grade-level music" (current instructor's quote, not mine) and am being chastised for not matching the page perfectly. To be frank, I'm pretty tired of it. It saddens me that an instrument I once loved playing has been reduced to such tedium, and it depresses me that my enjoyment in playing said instrument is almost entirely lost.

I've refrained from saying the names of any of my instructors. I do this out of respect, because at the end of the day I don't blame the instructor for what happened to me. Rather, I blame the system that props up this archaic musical mindset. It's a mindset which stomps on all potential creativity and individuality in favor of worshipping a bunch of European white guys who, in the grand scheme of things, have had very little historical influence on the state of music as we know it today.

Behind the Barrier: An Undertale Critical Analysis - Project Update #2

Well, it's been how long now, 10 months?

Admittedly I haven't made much progress on the Undertale Project as I would have liked. Originally, when I announced it, I said it would come out in 2016. Well, 2016 came and went, and I'm still nowhere near the half-way mark. So instead of talking about my thoughts and vision of the project in general, I think it would be more useful for anyone reading this to go over some of the problems I've encountered in the project and how I've dealt with those problems.

***

The first of these problems is the issue of structure. I think people approach writing in different ways, with many people writing in the exact way they talk in real life, others writing with a certain formula or pattern, and others still writing in a very abstract way. My general strategy has always been to write almost everything like I would an essay, because I've always been good at writing essays.

For example, let's take a look at the video I most recently made on Metallica's St. Anger. The video was pretty clearly divided into multiple sections, with an introduction followed by a declaration of thesis - that thesis being that St. Anger suffers from extreme variants of problems from Metallica's prior albums, and then three main body sections which are built to support that thesis with a conclusion at the end. This very blog post is an essay, with the first section being the short intro + thesis, and every subsequent section being an argument to support that thesis of "here are some problems I have encountered with Behind the Barrier".

The key problem is the Behind the Barrier simply is not able to be structured in that way, because I'm going through the game chronologically and pointing out everything as I go. Not only is there no structure to support my thesis, there are mutliple thesis arguments being made throughout the video. As a result, the video has to be a lot more conversational, and it has to constantly reference prior material. That's hard to figure out, and it's something I never really considered before diving in.

***

The second issue is pacing. The reason I wanted to do this critical commentary in the first place was because of the almost uncontainable flow of thought I had when I originally played the game. There were things I absolutely loved about Undertale (hence it being my favorite game of 2015), but there were also a lot of things that really struck me as awkward or just plain bad design decisions.

The good things are really easy to point out because they're constant and can be pointed out at any time, but the bad things are really hard to fit in, because it's hard to find a specific time to point out these problems. The most obvious thing to do would be to indicate the problem the first time it appears and then point it out when it happens again in the future, but that causes a problem of its own: if I talked about everything in the first two videos, then those videos would be extremely long and the remaining 5 or so would be much shorter.

I established those rough word count goals for each section for this exact reason: I knew that I couldn't say everything I wanted to say at the exact time it happens or I would run out of steam by the third or fourth video. Even good things, such as the music, have had to be pushed to later parts of the commentary simply because it would unnecessarily pad out the videos on the earlier parts of the game. My biggest issue with the game has to be saved for the end for a similar reason.

***

The final, and perhaps worst, of these issues is one of value. My buddy hatwearinggamer and I have sort of teamed up to give feedback on each other's scripts. The system really works well because I'm a good writer and he's a good listener. We look at these scripts from different perspectives and getting the second angle on our scripts can sometimes result in a restructuring of script, as it did with a video I later ended up scrapping entirely on game scoring (I recommend LambHoot's video on the subject, which is unilaterally better than what I was working on) and Hat's fantastic Diddy Kong Racing Original vs. Remake video.

One issue I have constantly brought to Scott (Hat) is the trap of summary vs. substance. Many game reviewers and critics, especially on YouTube, painstakingly summarize the entire plot and sequence of events in a game, something which I and many others agree is a waste of the viewer's time, especially if your video is made under the assumption that the audience has played the game. I highly doubt anyone would want to watch a 5-6 hour-long video series about Undertale without having played Undertale, so I'm running under that assumption.

Since, like I mentioned before, the commentary is being done such that it follows a player's journey through the game, it can sometimes be really tempting to just state what happens in a room instead of commenting on whether what happens in that room is good or bad. If there is no criticism, then there is generally no real reason to point something out, and I have caught myself writing a lot of that sort of unnecessary stuff.

***

I hope that was at least somewhat helpful. Either way, here's my status on writing at this point. You may notice that the word count for the intro is different. Many of these numbers will change despite something saying "complete" because I will go back and add more content or edit something.

3,378 words - Introduction (complete!)

7,330 words - Ruins (complete!)

5,483+ words - Snowdin

0 words - Waterfall

0 words - Hotland / CORE

0 words - New Home / Secret Area

0 words - Final Boss(es) / Ending(s)

0 words - Conclusion

If we're still sticking with the 54k word approximation, that means I have ~37,809 words left. Fun fun.

Now, my goal is to get this thing out by the game's second anniversary this year, but I have no idea whether that will actually happen. My plan is to work on this in the background of other projects until the summer and then power through the rest of the project then. Ideally I have most of it written so the only "powering through" part will be script editing, VO, gameplay recording, and production. But it took 10 months to get 10 thousand words down so there's no real way of knowing. I'd rather have a good product than a rushed one. Miyamoto once said something like that, and then subsequently released Super Mario Sunshine. Go figure.

Behind The Barrier: An Undertale Critical Analysis - Project Update #1

So I haven't updated this blog since late 2014. This place has always been a medium to just spurt out ideas and opinions, but now that I make scripted videos and such, most of the writing about "why Sonic sucks" or whatever has gone more towards the scripts for the actual YouTube channel.

Anyway I want to clear all the cobwebs and use this place as a means of giving some behind-the scenes stuff about this Undertale project I'm working on. I'm entering this with the goal of it releasing by the end of the year, but it's already March, so who knows whether I'll hit that deadline. Anyways, that's the idea - let's get into the project itself.

Oh, one other thing, I would NOT read this if you haven't played Undertale yet, because I will be talking about the game extensively in these posts. That being said, I will not mention any specific characters or plot elements beyond Snowdin in this post and I will give disclaimers in every post about what parts of the game I discuss.

The Idea

When I played Undertale back in October last year, I found it to be one of the most incredible experiences I ever had playing a video game. I was sick at the time, so I literally went through the entire game in one day with a PS4 controller in hand.

Anyways, as the days and months went by, everyone started making videos about Undertale, and since I knew about the game, I watched a lot of them, but a lot of these videos really irked me. Some videos talked extensively about how funny characters like Papyrus are and never really touched on the really neat things the game actually does. Some just blatantly spoil the game and ruin it for everyone. And then there are those who just spout memes.

It's come to the point now where the Undertale fanbase has driven the game's image away from its true purpose, and I have yet to find any video on YouTube that truly explains why Undertale affected so many people positively (although Balrog came damn close).

My idea with this critical analysis is to leave no stone unturned and truly tear apart this game (like I claim to do in my channel bio). Originally it was going to be an unscripted commentary a la Captain Toad, but soon the project expanded into something much greater in scope.

Logistics

Script

The full critical analysis will be approximately the same length as a pacifist run of the game (probably longer, but let's estimate), so around 6 hours. In addition, the thing will be fully scripted. The average speaking rate is somewhere around 150 wpm (words per minute), so assuming that's the case, we're looking at a script of approximately 54,000 words. That's a lot of fucking words.

So let's break this down, shall we?

The plan is to release each area of the game as a separate video, but then also release a full video of the whole thing for those who like to watch things that way. So, to make things a bit easier, we'll divide that 54,000 number by video.

If what I just said is true (and it might not be), then if we account for an intro and closing video we can go with about 8 videos total:

Introduction (not in-game)

Ruins

Snowden

Waterfall

Hotland/CORE

New Home

Ending(s)

Conclusion (not in-game)

Now I have already finished scripting that intro video, and it's  3,210 words long, which should equate to about a 15 minute video (for reference, the "Running in Mario Games" video was 2,898 words and ran 14 minutes, discounting the end card). I am currently scripting out the Ruins, and just finished Napstablook (so about halfway through). That bit is currently sitting at 3,853 words, which is a bit longer than 20 minutes. So here's where we stand currently:

3,210 words - Introduction (complete!)

3,853+ words - Ruins

0 words - Snowdin

0 words - Waterfall

0 words - Hotland / CORE

0 words - New Home

0 words - Ending(s)

0 words - Conclusion

54,000 words - TOTAL

Only 46,937 words left!

So given my standing with the script now, we can sort of guesstimate how long these sections will take. I'd imagine Hotland/CORE to be the longest video and New Home to be the shortest (not counting the intro and conclusion). We'll round to make things easier for us:

3k words - Intro

8k words - Ruins

8k words - Snowdin

7k words - Waterfall

10k words - Hotland / CORE

6k words - New Home

8k words - Ending(s)

4k words - Conclusion

54k words - TOTAL

Remember this is all rough guessing. I genuinely think Waterfall will take less than 7,000 words, but I'll be lenient. Plus, when you get to New Home and Ending(s) it's hard to say what things will be included where, and I haven't figured out all of those logistics yet.

Footage

As of writing, I have recorded none of the game footage, but during my Spring Break, I intend to record most, if not all of it. The issue is that because of the game's dynamic nature, one playthrough won't cut it by any means. In fact, I have determined that I will need to play through the game at least 5 times to get all the necessary footage. I'll try and break it down here:

Run 1 - Vanilla Neutral: This run's purpose is to show a typical neutral ending, while also showing all of the death sequences for all major bosses in the game in a neutral setting. I also plan to show off the "easter egg" deaths (ex. you can kill Toriel in one hit right after sparing her 23 of the necessary 24 times) as well. I will be sparing all normal enemies in the run except for Snowdrake, as he has a bit of significance (if you know what it is, cool, if not, cool too).

Run 2 - Post-Neutral: This run's purpose is to show some alternate stuff not shown in the first one, including characters like sans (yes, you're not supposed to capitalize his name you fool) recognizing the player from a prior run, using the sticks on the dogs, and letting Papyrus capture you during his fight, among others.

Run 3 - Vanilla Pacifist: After clearing the save via folder deletion, this pacifist run will play through the game in that regard. The footage from this run will be shown the most, so I will go and explore all the secret rooms and stuff too. I also pet the Lesser Dog in this run, and that's important because it's the funniest fucking thing in the whole game. I also get amusement from ignoring the Greater Dog, which I will also showcase in this run.

Run 4 - Genocide: After an in-game "true reset", it's time for mass murder. I plan to show pieces of the run throughout instead of dedicating a separate video to the Genocide run. I don't know exactly where I'll talk about the grinding though. Hmm...

Run 5 - Post-Pacifist: Similar idea to Post-Neutral, except this time it's following Genocide.

Essentially, my plan is to color-code the background based on which footage is being shown. This way I don't have to explicitly say "let's switch to the Genocide run". I want to avoid using the terms "pacifist" and "genocide" as much as possible in the critical analysis until we get to New Home because script reasons, so the coding will help differentiate between playthroughs without explicitly saying which one is the good one vs. the bad one. We probably wouldn't make two different colors for Run 1 and Run 2, because they both play out very similarly. I'm still debating on whether to make Run 5 a different color from Run 3, but I have a looooong time to debate that one out.

***

There's a lot of other ideas I've been tossing around, but for now I don't want to think or plan beyond these two phases of the project. If I think too far ahead, then it is very possible I might pull a Duke Nukem Forever and try and include all the latest cool shit in this project only for it to come out 15 years late when no one cares.

Anyways, I hope you found this interesting. This whole post clocks in at 1,449 words that could have been spent on the script, but hey, I like writing about what I'm thinking, even if no one will read it. I'll continue to update as the project goes along, so you can consider this your Kickstarter update for that project that you have no way of giving money to. Yeah, that.

-MML

MML's Top 25 Games of All Time: 2014 Edition

Well, I'm finally back. It took two months, but now I'm back to posting regular Let's Play videos. I'm now covering Super Mario Sunshine, a childhood favorite, an underrated classic, a flawed gem. And uploading videos of that game reminded me of all of the other games I loved as a child and, by extension, the games I love now. For the past two years I've annually updated my list of my top 25 favorite video games, and I think it's time we revisit that list - especially because I've experienced more fantastic games this year than in any year prior.

All games are allowed with one notable exception: compilations. If I allowed them then Super Mario All-Stars and Kirby's Dream Collection would easily top this list just because of how much content they have alone. I also will not put multiple versions of the same game on the list, because that's just cheating.

***

#25: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a Zelda guy. To this day I still cannot beat Moldorm in A Link to the Past, and hell, I died over seven times in the first dungeon in Ocarina of Time. That's right, over seven times. But if I'm not good at Zelda games, does that make them bad games? Hell no. And Majora's Mask is my proof.

There is something to be said about a game that is pure emotion. Modern indie developers try to do it all of the time with games like Limbo or Journey, but I still think Nintendo did it best with this game right here. Despite my sheer inability to play Zelda games, I still returned to Majora's Mask, determined to save the virtual world of Termina from its seemingly fated demise. Sure, I got frustrated, but that didn't matter. The game convinced me that I had to continue to press on, no matter what. And very few games can do that.

#24: Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)

It wasn't until the late 90s that gaming developers started to realize that gaming wasn't just for kids. The generation of people who grew up with an Atari or NES now grew up and still wanted to play games. As a result Rare made great games like GoldenEye and Perfect Dark to cater to those audiences. But in 2001, they also made a third game for the older crowd, and it is the funniest platform ever created.

Conker's Bad Fur Day, from a technical standpoint, is a pretty badly-designed game, with some awful difficulty spikes, some near-broken areas, and crappy controls in certain parts, but the charm, comedy, and pure Britishness that oozes from this game make it so fun regardless. You may be frustrated at this part, but then you remind yourself that you're a talking squirrel shooting evil Teddy Bears in a parody of Saving Private Ryan. It's impossible to not smile after reminding yourself of that.

#23: Kirby's Adventure (NES)

In the midst of all of the NES classics that people continue to remember to this day, one constantly is overlooked: a game that pushed its platform so far ahead that it almost looks like it belonged in the subsequent console generation. This game, Kirby's Adventure, is not only my favorite NES game, but it also is one of my favorite Kirby games, and it is one of few NES games that still holds up perfectly well by today's standards.

#22: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Video games have a leg up over other forms of entertainment because of the element of control that they provide. You don't watch Mario run and jump across the screen, no, you are Mario. It is strange, then, that one of the greatest games ever made happens to have very little gameplay.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a game about using the right item at the right time. You find these items throughout your investigations and then have to present them in the courtroom with the goal of revealing the truth behind a case and getting your defendant a "not-guilty" verdict. And while that may seem simple and perhaps boring, it is the execution of such a simple concept that makes this game and its sequels more immersive and entertaining than most other games. The characters are either likable or hatable, but they are all hilarious and quirky in their own way, the courtroom antics play out as if the defense and prosecution were in the WWE, and the truth may be harder to reveal than one might think. I chose the first game solely for the incredible fifth case, which is better than any other case in the entire series. It also helps that the first four cases are also all fantastic.

#21: Super Mario Bros. 3 (GBA)

While Kirby's Adventure is my personal favorite NES game, there's no denying that Super Mario Bros. 3 isn't a great game. In fact, it's a fantastic game. But on the GBA, Super Mario Bros. 3 got even better. Some of the random quirks of the NES version were simply removed, and the GBA being a more responsive platform in general removed some of the more frustrating elements (ex. "Oh COME ON, I PRESSED A!"). Don't get me wrong, I played the NES version and it's still great, but the GBA version is so much better, despite not adding any new content.

Trust me, there are going to be a lot of GBA ports on this list. That was my childhood right there.

#20: Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA)

When the original Donkey Kong Country released on the SNES, everyone flipped out because it looked too good to be true. For the first time in gaming history, a video game world actually looked somewhat realistic. And that thought was exciting. Most people say that the sequel was better than the first, and I agree. But how does such a beautiful game work on a tiny handheld?

Donkey Kong Country 2, above all else, plays really well and controls really well. The visuals, while very impressive, are merely the icing on the cake. And it is that gameplay that carries over flawlessly. In addition, the game was expanded to have more mini games and a new, fantastic boss battle. And it also helps that the game still looks fantastic for GBA standards.

#19: Shovel Knight (PC/Mac)

This is one of the greatest success stories of modern gaming history. An upstart company had a dream, but they didn't have the money to make it a reality. So they turned to the internet, and many other people believed in Yacht Club's dream and wanted to play it, so they funded the game.

The result is an incredibly well-polished sidescroller that is not only a love letter to the classic, but a classic all on its own. It's a ton of fun and it plays better than the games it tributes. It's my second favorite release of this year.

#18: Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES)

A sequel can sometimes be easy to make because game companies can just expand on the ideas of the first game and polish some of the issues the first game had. Rare did exactly that with DKC2. So what can a company do, then, to make a third entry not seem lazy and repetitive? By throwing in every idea they could think of.

Some people call this game the epitome of one-level gimmicks, and while that is true, these gimmicks enhance the game as opposed to detracting from it. This game has more memorable levels than any of its predecessors, and I love this game for it. Just not the GBA port, though - it's garbage.

#17: Portal (PC/Mac)

Valve is known for doing things that the rest of the industry just doesn't do. While I'm not a fan of Half-Life, its more immersive way of delivering story became a staple for many games to follow. Left 4 Dead essentially started the zombie shooter genre that's been done to death nowadays. And Portal, well perhaps that's the greatest one of all.

Portal is a first-person puzzle game that took away the arcadey-ness of almost every other puzzle game ever to exist at the time. Instead, it focused on immersing the player in the world of Aperture Science and then throwing mind-bending puzzles at him or her. The Portal Gun is one of the most iconic guns in gaming because of how off-the-wall and brilliant it is. Not to mention, the plot twist is brilliant.

#16: Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)

When I played this game for the first time earlier this year, I was overcome by an overwhelming sense of childish wonder and joy. The game presents itself so well that it brings the player on the ride with Pit, Palutena, Viridi, and a large cast of colorful characters. And that alone made me forget about some of the more frustrating elements that so many people nitpick on. Besides, when you play the game and really get into it, you'll likely forget how finicky the controls seemed at first.

The real star of the show here is Pit himself. He's going on a quest as a loyal servant to his goddess and he couldn't be happier about it. He isn't the brightest, but he learns with the player, figuring out things as the game progresses, making observations, laughing, and overall just enjoying himself. And that's exactly what I did when I played this game. Figured things out, made observations, laughed, and enjoyed myself.

#15: VVVVVV (PC)

In a world overpopulated by retro revival platformers, it's hard to find something that truly stands out. That's where VVVVVV comes in, an open-world 2D platformer where, get this, you don't jump. Instead of jumping, you flip your gravity such that you fall either up or down. And the mechanic is simply brilliant. Some of my favorite games are the ones that take one small concept, expand on it, and make a brilliant game out of it. This game does just that.

But there's more to it than that. VVVVVV features 5 different dungeons, each of which revolves around some new mechanic, whether it be hitting wires that immediately flip you the other direction or bizarre mazes where you exit the right side of the screen and end up at the left of the same screen. So while the game as a whole is an expansion on one simple concept, it also is a set of smaller concepts that make that main idea that much more brilliant.

#14: Pac-Mania (Arcade)

My favorite arcade game always has and likely always will be Pac-Mania.

As mentioned with VVVVVV, some of my favorite games revolve around the expansion of one simple concept. In this case, the concept is Pac-Man's ability to jump. That ability completely changes the nature of Pac-Man, and it also removes some of the frustrating parts of the original where players have to just hope that a ghost won't go a certain way. In this game, if you die, it's your fault.

That doesn't mean that the game's easy, however, because Namco realized that jumping was a huge advantage and decided to flood each stage with tons of ghosts, including some ghosts that can jump themselves. This game is brilliant and I love it.

#13: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (PC/Mac)

This year my friend convinced me to start playing The Binding of Isaac again. I bought the game shortly after its original release because I really enjoyed Super Meat Boy and the idea of a procedurally generated rogue-like game interested me. The problem was I was horrible at the game, for frustrated, and left. It wasn't until I was convinced to return that I decided to be more persistent with my approach, trying and trying again. Now I'm pretty good at the game and I really enjoy it. That's why the remake was my most hyped game of this year.

Rebirth essentially takes what is great about Isaac, polishes it, and then adds a button more content. It's as brilliant as the original, just tons better.

#12: Banjo-Kazooie (N64)

This year I decided to boot up my XBOX 360 again and navigate the XBLA store. When I did so, I came across a bundle of the first two Banjo-Kazooie games. I remember having a blast playing the first Banjo on my old N64 emulator on my old computer, so I decided to make the purchase. When I booted up Banjo-Kazooie again, I was reminded of why I love this game so much.

A lot of 3D platformers of this time had players exploring worlds, but it was only this game and its sequel that really did a good job at immersion. While in Mario 64 I was roaming around random floating rocks looking for various collectibles (I'm talking to you Whomp's Fortress!) in Banjo I felt I was actually part of a world. That's what made this game work so well.

#11: Psychonauts (PC)

Banjo may have had players exploring huge worlds, but the story itself was very bland and uninteresting. Meanwhile, Psychonauts not only has incredibly immersive worlds and environments, but it also has a great story with colorful characters to boot. This gives me a reason to explore these creative, bizarre worlds inside of people's heads.

#10: Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)

But while Psychonauts and Banjo-Kazooie both had fantastic worlds to explore, Super Mario 3D World decided to follow up on the great 3DS title by heading for the more linear obstacle-course approach. No longer would the focus be on more slow, deliberate exploration. Now Mario is back to the way he was in his old 2D games, platforming and using crazy power-ups with the goal of making it to the flagpole at the end. This game has some of the most creative levels in Mario history, and as a result it is my favorite 3D Mario game. An unpopular choice, sure, but it's a good choice nonetheless.

#9: Super Mario World (SNES or GBA)

Super Mario World on GBA was the second video game I ever played. Recently I played through the game's SNES version and I remembered why I love the game as much as I do. It's a simply magical game that radiates pure joy. Few games can emulate the happiness that is experienced in Donut Plains  1 when Mario takes off in flight with his first cape feather. And watching Mario wipe away a castle with a mop is simply priceless. It holds up perfectly well today, and while I cannot choose between the SNES original or the GBA port, either version is still a fantastic game.

#8: Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom (PS2)

All of the previously mentioned 3D platformers are fantastic, but none can top the majesty of Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom, a game that combines immersive worlds with fantastic level design. While the story may not be as deep as Psychonauts, the entire Spongebob cast is found throughout the whole game, keeping things entertaining and making the worlds full of life and color. This whole game feels like an extended episode of the cartoon (when it was good, of course). It also controls like a dream, the music is fantastic, and it looks great even by today's standards. It's not only by favorite 3D platformer, but it's also my favorite licensed game and my favorite game of the 6th home console generation (not counting portable consoles, of course).

#7: Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

I have a genuine belief that any franchise Retro Studios touches will somehow manage to become better. I'm no Metroid fan, but Metroid Prime being one of the most praised game of the 2000s, it was clear that I should be excited for the Donkey Kong Country game coming out on Wii. And I was. Yet somehow the game managed to exceed even my overblown expectations.

The game has great music and visuals, and it controls perfectly, but the most important thing to note about this game is that it has some of the greatest level design of any platformer. Retro knew what Donkey Kong Country was and decided to not only make this game a true Donkey Kong game, but they also threw all sorts of crazy new ideas at it. It is a brilliant game that everyone has to play.

#6: Portal 2 (PC)

Puzzle games rarely have good sequels. Any Tetris sequel simply didn't work, and games like Minesweeper or Snake never got sequels because there was no point. Luckily Portal was a much more complex puzzle game than the ones just mentioned, but regardless, a sequel is difficult. That makes it much more impressive, then, when Valve makes a sequel to Portal that almost makes the first game irrelevant.

Portal 2 does everything that the first game does and expands on it, adding new mechanics that no one ever thought of before, such as gel that makes Chell bounce or speed up or light bridges that can go through portals. In addition, a few new characters are thrown into the mix to make the story much more entertaining and interesting overall. It's hard to top the plot twist of the first game, but Portal 2 does that really well... twice.

It's just a fantastic game. Play it.

#5: Kirby's Return to Dreamland (Wii)

Kirby is one of my favorite series of games because every single game in the main series is solid - there is no "odd-man-out", no Super Mario Sunshine or Zelda II (even though both of those games aren't bad by any means). Sure, some of the spin-offs are a bit odd, but the main series consists of a bunch of fantastic games. Any of them are guaranteed to impress. But this one? This one will blow your mind.

Return to Dreamland has a fairly simple plot, but like a lot of other Kirby games it decides to change up the story a bit towards the end. The difference here is that this game's version of that is bar none the best one of the whole franchise. In addition, the game has some of the best Kirby level design, and the superabilities are a welcome addition that change up the gameplay at the right times. It's the best Wii game, and the best game of the 7th console generation.

#4: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)

RPGs are great for their story, but not for their gameplay. The primary element of success in most RPGs is selecting an attack and praying that the game will be kind enough for it to do enough damage. The Mario RPGs went against this annoying gameplay trope by integrating elements of control into battles by pressing the right buttons at the right time to do extra damage. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga expanded this even further by making the timed button presses integral to battling. No longer was the attack you chose the factor behind winning or losing battles, although it still plays a part. Now players' skill was the most important part. This mechanic may be the reason I don't like most RPGs, but it also is the reason why I love this game so much. This game is the best RPG ever made by a long shot.

Oh, and Fawful is the funniest character to exist in a video game. That too.

#3: Super Mario Land 2 (GB)

Despite all of the childlike wonder everyone experiences while playing Super Mario World, nothing can top the simplicity and near-perfection that is Super Mario Land 2. It's a game that is designed so brilliantly and is so fun to play. Not only can Mario explore the six worlds in any order he wishes, he also can platform through levels that are designed to be played with both the Fire Flower and the Bunny Carrot, no preferences. While the Carrot may seem overpowered at first, it is perfectly balanced overall and the game is designed for it to be used and used well. In addition, there is not a single level that isn't memorable or unique in some way, and the game is quirky and charming and stands out on its own. It's a fantastic platformer and it's the best main series Mario game.

#2: OpenXCOM (PC) / X-COM: UFO Defense (DOS)

One of the greatest experiences I have ever had as a gamer was the first time I ever played X-COM: UFO Defense. It's not only a brilliant strategy game, but it's scary and atmospheric in a way Five Nights at Freddy's or Slender never could be. Every time a soldier shoots at an alien, I tense up and fear for the soldier's life, because if he misses then he very likely will get killed by that alien within the next turn, and when a soldier dies in X-COM, there are no 1-up Mushrooms. It's one of the first more mature games I ever played and it's my favorite.

Recently, a group of passionate X-COM fans finished up a freeware rerelease of the original game called OpenXCOM. It's essentially the same game as UFO Defense, however it features some enhancements that I never realized were needed. Now there are circles around your base in the Geoscape so you can see how far your sensors can reach. There are many performance improvements that simply weren't possible in the days of MS-DOS, as well. This is the definitive way to experience X-COM, however the people behind OpenXCOM didn't make the original game, therefore it shares the spot with it.

#1: Yoshi's Island (GBA)

Yoshi's Island is not only platforming perfection, it is video game perfection. There is nothing wrong with this game. Absolutely nothing.

But perhaps even more surprising than that claim is the fact that I continue to be surprised by this game. Even so many years after first picking it up, I continue to find new things. While going back and playing through my favorite levels recently, I noticed how much personality the enemies have. When you hit a swinging ghost with an egg, for example, he takes a second to pause and look directly at the player with an expression that can be best summed up as "What the hell, bro? Not cool!". The bandits have this awesome menacing grin on their face that looks like an eight-year-old who took a toy from his younger brother because he thinks he's big and powerful. Then when you jump on him, he looks upset, as if Mom walked into the room and told him to give the toy back. The attention to detail in this game continues to amaze me.

If you haven't played this game, you are missing out big time. This game is not only my childhood in a nutshell, it is also a game I continue to come back to over and over again and never cease to have a really fun time. It's the perfect video game, and as much as Nintendo tries to replicate that magic with the sequels, they forget the part that makes the game magical to begin with: passion and love. Mindless sequels will never bring back Yoshi's Island. True passion for the game you're making just might.

Yoshi's New Island - Worlds 2 & 3

Well it's been a while, hasn't it?

I've actually not even touched Yoshi's New Island for a few weeks until just today when I beat 2-6 through all of World 3. I just found interest in other games, like Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land, both fantastic 3DS games.

But what of the latest sequel to my favorite video game of all time? Let's get into my thoughts on Worlds 2 and 3 of Yoshi's New Island.

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The first thing I've really started to notice is how unoriginal the levels are. And by unoriginal, I don't mean that the actual level layouts are copy-pasted, because the level layouts are unique and very well-made. What I'm talking about is the theme of the levels themselves.

For example, let's take Level 3-1 of Yoshi's New Island: "Rise of the Nasty Nep-Enuts". This level revolves around those giant blue guys (called Nep-Enuts) that pop out of water and get in your way until you hit them with an egg or two. But doesn't that sound familiar? Of course it does, because Level 3-3 of the original Yoshi's Island was called "Nep-Enut's Domain" and it had the exact same premise.

But that's just one level, right? Wrong. What about Level 2-7 of Yoshi's New Island: "Hidey-Hole Hooligans"? This level revolves around Lakitus hiding behind walls and throwing Spinys at you. Guess what? "Lakitu's Wall" is a level from the original that uses the exact same gimmick, and even better, it's also Level 2-7.

Yet another example. Level 3-3 of Yoshi's New Island is called "Harry Hedgehog's Labyrinth". The level design is a maze-like cave full of these spiny hedgehog creatures (Harry Hedgehogs) that rarely appear in any other level in the game. Level 3-6 of the original, "The Cave of Harry Hedgehog" could be described in exactly the same way.

But wait! There's more! Yoshi's New Island's Level 2-6 - "Gusty Glory" - uses the same gimmick as the original's 2-3 - "What's Gusty Taste Like?" - namely, a lot of Gusties flying all over the place.

Even more! Level 3-2 - "Ukiki Jammin'" - uses the same concept as the original's 3-5 - "Jammin' Through the Trees" - very little eggs in the level, encourages use of the Green Watermelons to kill enemies.

So in terms of original content and memorability, Yoshi's Island DS actually beats this game out by far. But the difference is that this game still plays much better.

The other major discovery I made was about how terribly designed these bosses are. And I'm not saying terribly designed as in they're all too easy or too hard - I just mean that they're bad bosses. It's really a mixed bag on the difficulty front, but regardless it's bad design.

I don't know whether I mentioned this in the World 1 post, but you fight Kamek in the fourth stage of every world in this game for some reason. His boss fights are just unoriginal and boring - until you get to World 3.

Kamek's fight in Level 3-4 might just be one of the most frustrating bosses I've ever fought in a video game. It's a clever idea, actually: shoot the balloons floating by with eggs to make bombs drop down on Kamek. The problem is that the balloons still drop bombs on you when you're underneath them. In addition, Kamek shoots spells at you and the two Egg-plants on the side of the room are spitting out the green spiny ball things (I forget their official name) that can damage you. Hitting Kamek with the bombs requires near-perfect precision and is completely discontinuous with the difficulty curve the game set - a really low one.

Then there's the boss of Level 3-8, which is a joke. All you have to do is hit it with eggs. The boss can easily be dodged if you stay on high ground, and he's so huge and slow that it's impossible to miss him. I really don't know what they were thinking with this one.

The World 2-8 boss wasn't too bad (it was the one they actually demoed at E3 last year), but the concept has been done to death. Remember King Zing Sting from Donkey Kong Country? This boss is almost the exact same.

The other thing worth noting is that I officially gave up on getting 100%. It's not because I couldn't do it, but when I didn't beat 2-4 with 30 stars I just decided "screw it" and continued to 2-5. Since then, I really never returned to complete a level. Like I said in World 1, I think the score system makes completing a level more satisfying.

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Beyond that, there's really not much else to say. The game's still enjoyable, but it just doesn't stand out. It's like the New Super Mario Bros. games, but with Yoshi's Island. The thing that still makes it a really good game, however, is that it's still Yoshi's Island.

Yoshi's New Island - First Impressions & After World 1

Hey folks!

So as most of you know, my personal favorite video game is Yoshi's Island's GBA port. I would go into why, but I'd feel like I'm beating a dead horse.

Back in 2006 (I think) this classic finally got a sequel in the form of Yoshi's Island DS, a game that happens to be one of the worst sequels ever made and one of the biggest disappointments in all of gaming (the clerk at GameStop disagreed with me, but I digress).

So with the release of the new 3DS Yoshi game, I knew I just had to pick it up and see what the deal was. Apparently the head developer of the original Yoshi's Island was working with Arzest (a company that was formed after Artoon dissolved) to make this one, so at least I knew it couldn't be that bad... or at least not as bad as Yoshi's Island DS. So, as soon as I got the chance, I made my way to GameStop and picked up the game for myself.

Basically, I'm going to make a new post updating you all with my opinions on the game as I clear each world. Unlike Yoshi's Island DS, I am told that this game actually has 6 worlds, so that means 6 posts in all. I can tell you that this one and the last one are definitely going to be the longest. I'm going to be assuming that you are all familiar with the original Yoshi's Island, as I will not be explaining basic game mechanics here. I'm also going to be extremely picky, but try to understand that this is in the same series as my favorite video game ever made. I'll also try to avoid spoilers since the game is brand new.

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Speaking of new, this game happens to be called Yoshi's New Island. I'm kinda sick of this "New" moniker because it really hasn't worked anytime it's been used. I might have been more comfortable with "Return to Yoshi's Island" because all of the 2D reboots that had the word "Return" in it did very well by my standards.

Also, apparently instruction manuals are digital now? That's cool... I guess. There was a small pamphlet with Dream Team, but this one has absolutely nothing. Just the cart and a few Nintendo ads. The case seems really big when it actually holds so little.

So let's boot up this game, shall we?

The first thing I noticed was that the game did not open in the same way the first two Yoshi's Island games did. Instead it opens with Yoshi eating a giant shy guy. I mean, if you sit on the title screen long enough the opening cutscene does play, but I don't know. It's just weird to not hear soothing music when you boot up a Yoshi game. I actually was thinking about the Yoshi's Island opening the other day, but I'll let you find out why I was thinking that later, if you're subscribed to the YouTube channel, anyways. It's not the best first impression, but it works. Nintendo's been all about getting to the title screen quickly nowadays, so I'm not surprised.

The issue is actually not the way the game starts, it's that the entire opening cutscene plays when you select your file for the first time and there's no way to skip it (from what I saw). In the original, after the file select, the game started right with Baby Mario and the Yoshis, such that even if you skipped the opening before the title, you'd still be able to understand what's going on. Here, they force you to watch the whole 2-3 minute opening. And it's not like this story's anything mind-blowing. In fact, it's literally the same story as Yoshi's Island, except it starts at the end of the original Yoshi's Island with the stork delivering the babies to the wrong parents. If this game takes place right after the original, they Nintendo really wants us to forget Yoshi's Island DS then, or so it seems.

The good thing is that the title of Yoshi's New Island actually makes sense, because this game doesn't take place on Yoshi's Island, it takes place on Egg Island. Whoopee.

Remember how in Super Mario 3D World, Mario and friends went to the Sprixie Kingdom? And remember how the Sprixie Kingdom didn't look any different from the Mushroom Kingdom? Well, consider Egg Island the "Sprixie Kingdom" to Yoshi's Island.

But that music. What were they thinking? I think my ears bled when I was forced to listen to that awful rearrangement of the intro cutscene theme. I was really worried about having to mute the game the whole time after hearing that, especially after the really bad Yoshi singing part. It's like Yoshi's Story all over again, except even less tolerable.

Instead of a tutorial level like "Welcome to Yoshi's Island!" from the original, the game just brings you to the world map immediately. So let's go into the first level.

The first thing I'll discuss is the control, because unlike Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi actually feels like Yoshi. No more run button, no more other babies, no more weird acceleration, it's all gone. Yup, this game controls almost exactly like the original. The only thing I noticed is that the egg aim takes a little longer to start up, and it throws me off just a little, but compared to Yoshi's Island DS, that is not worth writing home about.

The music actually is not bad in this level, but if you find a pipe and enter it, turn the volume all the way down, because if you don't, the worst song you ever heard in your life will play. It seems as if the soundtrack is trying to get a mix of classic Yoshi's Island style music with some Yoshi's Story thrown in. The issue is that you get some decent tracks, some bad tracks, and some cringe-worthy tracks, but no memorable ones. I can only hope that there's something like the Althletic theme to get stuck in my head. Hell, I have Yoshi's Island DS music on my iPod, and I'd like to have something to remind me of this game before I remember DS.

The art style is hit-or-miss too. It's not bad, but it does take a bit of getting used to. I think a lot of people were worried when they saw the initial trailer for this game, but I must say that when you play the game, it does still work, and it does still feel like the entire world was drawn in crayon like the original. It just isn't the same, but that's okay. I would prefer this than just a level pack for the original. Even though the original was perfect, I want to be able to define this game by something, and if it's this art style, that could be okay. This game has a few other things that make it stand out, however, and the first of these things shows up in the first level.

If you look at the box art, you'll notice a giant egg in the background. That's not there for decoration, as Yoshi's New Island features these giant eggs. The only thing about them is that so far, they don't really do anything. In the first level, the giant egg was confined to a specific area, and when it appears in other levels, it is the same. So no, you cannot take a giant egg anywhere you want and destroy the entire level.

I don't think they really thought this whole giant egg thing through. They could have done so much more with this concept (and they very well might later on in the game), but it seems as if they just added them for the sole purpose of being a gimmick. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

The other gimmick they have in this game is actually a returning one, but rebranded a bit. The transformations from the previous games are back, but no longer appear as bubbles. Rather, Yoshi transforms into a vehicle after entering a door, and the vehicle sections are self-contained rooms with a timer. These rooms act more like minigames than a part of the main level, however there are still red coins and flowers in these sections. My nostalgia blinders tell me that this is bad, but I really don't see anything wrong with it. You can fail the transformation minigames as many times as you wish so that you can assure that you collected everything in the room, and they are a nice change of pace. I can't say that they're better than the bubbles though, and it does take away some of the puzzle elements that the first Yoshi's Island had, most notably with the Mole Tank.

But hey, I finished the first level with all 30 stars, 20 red coins, and 5 flowers. It was really easy to 100% this level. The thing is, however, that you are no longer scored at the end of a level on a point-based system. Instead, each item is tallied and graded separately. This means that if you got 5 flowers and 30 stars but missed a red coin, you would only need to get the 20 red coins when you replay the level in order to complete the level.

The first thing you might think is "WOAH THAT'S AWESOME!!!" but I'm not so sure.

See, one thing I liked about the original Yoshi's Island was seeing that "100" when you completed a level fully. You had to do everything in one run, but you were rewarded highly for it. As a player, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I 100% a level in Yoshi's Island, and that sense of accomplishment is the reason I continue to go back to the game, as I still have not 100%ed every stage. I have played and beaten Yoshi's Island numerous times, but never could I fully complete it. It's something I continue to try and do.

But in this game, that sense of accomplishment is greatly diminished. If you get hit before the exit and lose a star or two as a result, you won't freak out as much, because you know that you can just speedrun the level and not have to go out of your way for the other collectibles. It also makes the levels a lot easier to complete, which I think will prevent me from wanting to visit this game as much as Yoshi's Island or, dare I say it, Yoshi's Island DS.

But what this game lacks in replay value it makes up for in so many other ways. The levels I've played so far have been unbelievably creative in their level design, and there are a lot of concepts from the original that I never imagined that they'd bring back. There's also a lot of new things to be seen too, from 1-6, which takes place almost entirely on beanstalks akin to the ones that sprouted from ? clouds in the original, to 1-8, a level with happy-face blocks that move in a square path based off of whether a block is activated or not, and a fairly unique boss, if a bit too easy.

After I beat the boss, an extra level opened in World 1 as I had easily 100%ed the world (although it wasn't called extra 1, instead it was called World 1-S). I only had to replay a few levels one additional time, thanks to the replacement of a point-based score with the individual tracking of stars, flowers, and red coins. From the way the world map looks, it seems as if secret levels are no longer a thing after you beat the game, which means that you have to 100% a world completely in order to unlock the extra (or I guess it's now called "S") level. This gives people incentive to complete the game, but it also detracts from the replay value because of how easy 100%ing the game is so far. In Yoshi's Island on GBA, sure, I have unlocked and beaten every level in the game, but I still have a majority of the levels without the 100% score. I really like the way the GBA port worked out in that regard, as I still was able to explore every level in the game as a child with not too much effort, but I still had a challenge to face as an adult trying to 100% all of those levels. Sure, after beating every level, the score doesn't mean much, but the way Yoshi's Island showed it off at the end of every level, it sure felt like it meant something.

I still have one last complaint that I have yet to touch on, however, and then I'll end it there.

There are no items in Yoshi's New Island.

By items, I do not mean things like the seed-spitting melons - as while I have not come across them, I have heard that they do return - but rather the items that you can access on the pause menu, such as the magnifying glass, the egg refills, and (perhaps worst of all) the +10 and +20 star items.

Some people might not miss these items, but their removal actually drastically affected the game's design rather greatly.

First off, it makes getting 30 stars a lot harder. No longer can you die after a midway ring and expect to have 30 stars by the goal. No longer can you get hit right before the goal ring and have the backup security of a +10 star item. And no longer can you bypass any cloud if you want to have even a chance at getting 30 stars. But once again, it isn't too bad because you can easily replay the level with your only objective being to get 30 stars and get to the exit while ignoring everything else.

Second off, it means that there are no Bonus Challenges. And they were fun. And I miss them. Instead of the chance of getting a bonus challenge at the goal ring, landing on a flower on the goal gives you medals. If you get 30 medals in a world, you unlock a vehicle challenge for that world. That vehicle challenge does nothing more than give you a shot at extra lives. And this game spoon-feeds you lives. You do not need lives. The medals are pointless.

Overall, however, Yoshi's New Island was still very fun so far, but I'm also really liking Wario Land 3 on Virtual Console, and I found myself playing that late last night instead of Yoshi's New Island, even though I bought Yoshi that same day. It's certainly better than Yoshi's Island DS, but it can't even touch the perfection of the original.

But frankly, I never really expected it to. This is a quality Yoshi game, and for what it is, I'd say it was worth it, so far.

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Thanks for reading! Be sure to stay tuned to see what I think of the game after playing more of it!

What are your thoughts on Yoshi's New Island? Let me know below!

What Happened With Dream Team?

Yes, this blog is alive! You like?

So on MLK Jr. Day I finally got around to purchasing a Nintendo 3DS, and I love the system. The 3D capabilities are fantastic, it feels great (if a little less comfortable than the DS), and the Circle Pad feels more responsive than an analog stick.

Right now I only have one game for the system, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the sequel to the other three Mario & Luigi games that I praise oh-so much. The first game in the series, Superstar Saga, is my favorite RPG of all time, and the third entry, Bowser's Inside Story, isn't too far behind. Partners in Time was not so much a bad game as it was a victim of a short development cycle.

I'll be completely honest. Dream Team is a mess. I don't exactly know how to react to it. There are so many things that I love about it, but yet there are so many things that I absolutely despise about it.

This isn't going to be a formal review as I have not finished the game in its entirety yet. This means I won't be explaining the story or the game, and I am going under the assumption that you know at least a little about the game. I will, however, discuss the good and bad about it.

Let's start with what I like.

I love how much the game has called back to its predecessors.

By far my favorite thing about Dream Team is how nostalgic it makes me feel. For the longest time, each game was its own separate entity, with minor exceptions like Fawful's appearance in the subsequent two games and the Shroobs finding their way into Bowser's Inside Story. In Dream Team, I'm pretty sure there are more old characters than new, and I really like that. From Monsieur Broque to Kylie Koopa and even to Popple, a near-uncountable cast of characters find their way into this game. I got a smile on my face when I found lines like "I'm a master thief, see?" or "Zis is incroyable, non?" because they remind me of what I loved so much about the past games.

But while I appreciate the nostalgia more, it is probably more important to understand how many good elements the game has taken from the previous Mario & Luigi RPGs. Of all of the features I was happy to see return, I loved that Mario and Luigi had different Bros. Attacks, something that hasn't occurred since Superstar Saga. I was so happy to find something that made Mario & Luigi noticeably different aside from some stat differences like in the classic GBA title. In addition to that, Attack Pieces and Ranks return from Bowser's Inside Story, and the double jump returns again, originally found in Partners in Time. Bros. Points are no longer called Special Points, and Nuts return as a method of healing both brothers (instead of mushroom drops - what a stupid name for an item!). The Badge system is retained from Bowser's Inside Story, in addition to the multiple gear slots, however the gear itself has more special abilities like the gear in Superstar Saga. The 2D sections make a return from Bowser's Inside Story, but - well, we'll get to that later.

I love the complexity of battles.

Past Mario RPGs were very simple with their battle systems. It was a simple matter of selecting an attack and pressing a button or two to execute it. It is a hell of a lot better than selecting attacks and praying that they'll connect, but at the same time I can respect an argument that those action commands don't add a full level of control. On a system like the GBA, it's hard to make every attack that complex. They managed to do it with the Bros. Attacks, but, as I said, I can understand someone arguing that it could be even more in-depth.

Dream Team solves this nonexistent problem by making the execution of any attack require a good degree of skill. Jump and Hammer attacks require perfection in order to deliver the maximum amount of damage, something that simply did not happen in Superstar Saga. That doesn't make Superstar Saga's method bad, but I certainly can say that I prefer this system better. It requires mastery, something that a lot of RPGs lack. The Bros. Attacks also require a lot more skill than before. The Fire Flower used to be somewhat of a button-mash skill, but now it is a close observation game where you wait for each fireball to glow before you throw it. Similarly, the new Luiginary attacks require an immense amount of skill, from using the 3DS Gyroscope to roll a Luiginary ball over a bunch of Luigi clones to make it huge to building a giant stack of Luigis by figuring out exactly when and how to jump to make the tower stand straight.

The only complaint I have is with the Bye-Bye Cannon Bros. Attack. I'm partially color-blind, and Luigi's shade of green is closer to Mario's shade of red, making executing this attack especially difficult for me. It's just a small oversight, however, and it's not worth writing home about.

Speaking of visuals, however...

I love this game's presentation.

My god, Alphadream went all out with the music and graphics for this game. It's a joy to play in 2D, but it looks even nicer in 3D. Nothing really pops, but it adds a layer of depth. Touching back on the battles for a second, this added depth also enhances the battle gameplay, making dodging far more complex than timed button presses.

The music of this game is probably my favorite part of it. While the boss theme is the only one that really stands out, there is something to be said about atmosphere, and this game has that. The songs fit the tone of each area perfectly, and it creates a sense of immersion that the other Mario RPGs could only dream of when combined with the visuals (Get it? Dream?).

The environments are all beautiful 3D models, but perhaps even more impressive is the spritework. That's right, the characters are still sprites. You can only find out that they are sprites if you look very closely during certain dialogue sequences. Most of the time, everything looks like a beautiful model, and even when compared to Bowser's Inside Story, the graphics look loads better than any other Mario & Luigi game, and perhaps any Mario RPG in general. Honestly, the graphics also are a bit of a callback to Super Mario RPG to me, as the looks-like-3D-but-isn't spritework appears very similar.

This game's presentation tops everything else about the game. And, while it speaks miles about how good the presentation is, it also speaks poorly for the game in general.

With that, let's talk about what I dislike.

The game DRAGS.

The other Mario & Luigi RPGs are generally about 20 hours long. It's a good-length game that definitely takes time to beat but doesn't overstate its welcome. Lately, games have been expanded to take hundreds of hours to beat. Bethesda, as much as I like them, always makes their games way too long. People see this as a good thing as they get more content for their dollar. I see it as a bad thing because it always means that that content is simply not as high-quality.

There are long games that are fantastic. I've been playing Persona 4, and while its battle system is something I had to take a while to get accustomed to, it is a really good game, despite the main campaign taking around 90 hours to beat. Meanwhile, games like Portal and VVVVVV are also fantastic, but the games are only as long as they need to be.

Alphadream didn't understand that, evidently.

I've played about 18 hours of the game and I'm not even close to the game's final act. It seems like they decided to double the game's length without doubling anything else. The story is incredibly simple, the environments are generally uninteresting despite how nice they look, and the characters just aren't memorable.

A great majority of the game consists of collect-a-thon segments that were designed solely to make the game longer. Part of the Dozing Sands area involves using a cart to crush rocks, but this cart constantly goes on a circular track until you flip a panel to change the track layout. You have to find four Pi'llos that will give you a certain item by crushing all of the rocks until you find them. It was one of the most monotonous segments of the game, and it comes quite early. Another annoying collect-a-thon quest happens later in the game, but it could be considered a callback to Superstar Saga because it is very similar to the Beanstar Piece hunt, albeit a lot longer and more tedious (at the time of writing this, I have not finished it yet).

Then there's the stupid things, like the lack of a warp system until about halfway through the game. You have to take the time to walk everywhere, and it takes forever without any sort of move that speeds up the bros' leisurely pace. Then, Prince Dreambert randomly pulls out a block and says "Oh, yea, we do have a warp system!".

The game does pick up its pace later on, but the typical gamer would get bored in the first few areas of the game quickly and might put it down before getting to the better parts.

The game feels like the "Partners in Time" to Bowser's Inside Story.

If you take your time and look back at the four Mario & Luigi games, you might notice a sort of pattern. Partners in Time feels a lot more like Superstar Saga than Bowser's Inside Story does, and Dream Team feels a lot more like Bowser's Inside Story than it does any other Mario & Luigi game. Why is this?

Perhaps the most obvious thing Dream Team copied was the 2D segments. Instead of these 2D segments being inside Bowser, they now take place in Luigi's dreams. Like being inside Bowser, you can manipulate the outside world to affect the inside world. Bowser is able to use Midbus' ice-breath to freeze the Airway in the same way Luigi can press a button to turn off a heating pad to freeze over Dreamy Mt. Pajamaja. What makes things different with this gimmick is how it was expanded. Now, Starlow can do something to Luigi that affects the Dream World, whether it be making him sneeze and make a giant wind whip by in the dream world or spinning the tube he rests on to change the direction of gravity. Instead of Dream Team having new ideas of its own, it rebrands the same gimmick and sells it as something new.

And, you know, that would be fine if the level design wasn't so lazy in these areas.

Sometimes I enter the dream world to find a host of enemies and puzzles and other times I find an empty room with a few platforms in it. It's almost random as to whether you get a lazy dream world or a complete one, and it bugs the hell out of me. Luckily, the plot-pertinent dream segments are relatively fleshed-out, but some of the minor ones have no thought put into them at all. The only positive is that the dream segments don't ever drag out like Bowser's Inside Story's infamous Flab Zone. I would rather have that, however, than lazy level design.

Partners in Time, to me, gave me a similar feeling to Dream Team in that the entire game felt like a rehash with a few added gimmicks. The Vim Factory could be easily compared to Woohoo Hooniversity, the Thwomp Volcano felt like Hoohoo Mountain, and Star Hill felt like a slightly-less-annoying version of Joke's End. The design in some areas felt lazy, and the parts that were really good were overshadowed by the game's many faults.

The good news is that Dream Team has a lot more good things about it than it has bad things, and it's a lot better than Partners in Time, however some of the copy-paste choices cannot be ignored, and the lazy design in some areas is inexcusable.

I don't think the game is as charming as the others.

Humor was always at the forefront of the plot of Mario RPGs. Whether it be Lord Crump's "Buh huh huh!!!" from Thousand-Year Door or Fawful's "Mustard of Doom" from Superstar Saga, I always was able to appreciate the writing of the Mario & Luigi RPGs.

The plot, for once, is actually relatively dark and serious for a Mario & Luigi game, and it really threw me off. Whenever the main story is talked about, the mood gets incredibly grim. Comparatively, the story of Bowser's Inside Story consisted entirely of hilarious rambling, stupid diseases, and Bowser's constant sarcasm. Even Partners in Time's story, no matter how flawed, was at least entertaining thanks to the never-ending slapstick humor.

Most of the time, Dream Team isn't that funny. It certainly has its moments (one part of the game is particularly "beefy" with humor), but it just hasn't made me laugh nearly as much as its predecessors, and that's sad. When I started Dream Team, I expected to laugh my head off, but I didn't really get that until I was almost 5 hours into the game, and then when that part ended, I had to wait another 4 or 5 hours before I found a particularly funny part of the game.

I guess that when I say the first thing that made me laugh was Starlow saying "HEY! I AM WEARING CLOTHES! I HAVE SHOES!", it didn't really get my hopes up on humor for this game.

I'm not saying the game isn't funny - it is. But it's the least funny of the four games by far.

So here's my verdict.

Dream Team is a good game. It's a really good game. It just doesn't compare to the likes of Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story. I really wanted to fall in love with this game, but that just didn't happen.

I won't give it a score as I haven't beaten the game yet, however I will say it's my second least-favorite Mario & Luigi RPG, above Partners in Time.

I definitely encourage you to give the game a try if you have a 3DS, but I must warn you that you'll have to be patient and forgiving with it. If you can overlook those things, however, it's certainly a fun time.

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