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Super Mario RPG Outside of Zelda, I basically stopped playing games on my Switch in the past few years, in preparation for the inevitable Switch 2, which I was reasonably sure would contain a performance boost for games and maybe even be more comfortable to hold. Lo and behold, it did! Admittedly, not that Super Mario RPG needed a performance boost. Truthfully, I might have just been not very excited to play this. Which was dumb because this game is as charming as it is fun, which is to say it is both very charming and a lot of fun. Probably shouldn't have waited nearly 30 years to play this game. Super Mario 3D World At least I consider it beaten. I rolled credits last night but it unlocked a secret bonus world. I also need to go back and get all the green stars. But I think I'm done playing it as my main game for now. The game didn't make a great first impression, I started it and played the first world or two on Wii U back in the day. I also played it when it first came out on Switch and got about the same length in. But that was a year or two after Odyssey which I felt like was a much more inspired game. Not to mention the early levels are easy and kind of boring. Simply put: 3D World is the New Super Mario Bros of 3D Mario platformers. By that I mean it's a really great game that doesn't really try to push the boundaries of the genre. It plays it safe. When I played Odyssey, Galaxy 1+2, even 3D Land, I could constantly feel the inspiration from the developers but nowhere near as often in SM3DW. Of course there's still some levels that are amongst the best in the series, and that's when the game really shines. A lot of those levels are locked behind green star gates, so make sure you seek them out. EDIT: Also, a few levels into the special world now, and these levels are all fantastic. Ultimately, it feels like they took what worked so well for 3D Land and transitioned it to console. But everything fantastic that 3D Land did, it did as a 3DS game, in 2011. 3D World was released as a HD console game in the 'modern era'. Yes, everything is bigger and looks nicer, but it's iterative. Wait a second. Did 3D World initially come out 12 fucking years ago? Jesus Christ. My eagerness to play games on the Switch 2, got me to pick this game up over the past few nights and finish it off and I'm glad I did, there is some really good level design in here. Just don't go in expecting to see the majesty of Galaxy or Odyssey. But the game still is a ton of fun. Bowser's Fury Now this, is an inspired 3D Mario platformer! Boss fights between Super Sayan Cat Mario and Kaiju Bowser are as ridiculous as they sound and I love it. The various islands instead of cut off worlds works well and is an approach I'd like to see a full length Mario game do in the future... open world Mario platforming, let's go. The controllable camera definitely makes it feel more like Odyssey than 3D World which I appreciate.

Super Mario Odyssey At least, I consider it beaten. I rolled credits about a week ago and then I kept playing until the Odyssey stopped telling me it needed more moons to unlock new destinations. I did the final gauntlet on Darker Side and everything. I'll probably keep playing here and there to get all the moons but I think I'm done playing it as my main game for now. The game didn't make a great first impression, especially coming right from 3D World which is more of a pure platformer. The first few worlds in Odyssey were way too easy and boring. But as I kept playing I saw what the game was going for and started appreciating it for what it was. Especially as the difficulty ramped up to at least a level that wasn't completely braindead. I was shocked by how short the story mode is, though. My profile said I had played "10 hours or more" at that point but it honestly felt more like 6 hours to me. It's been over 20 years but I feel like 64 and Sunshine took me way longer to beat back in the day. As an aside, the playtime log on the Switch kinda sucks, uh? What happened to the super detailed activity log from the 3DS?! Anyway, yeah this game was a ton of fun. I think I enjoyed 3D World more overall but Odyssey was just different enough that playing it back-to-back with 3D World wasn't an issue. Metroid: Zero Mission Holy crap, why did I wait so long to play this game?! I guess it being a remake of the original NES Metroid made me lowkey expect a frustrating experience but this was anything but. It was like playing a mini-version of Super Metroid and it ruled. I especially loved how the game gives you a vague destination to reach without telling you outright how to get there. It doesn't ruin the feeling of exploring an alien world but it also keeps you from needlessly wasting your time looking in all the wrong places. Also, I was surprised by the last section of the game. Somehow in all these years, I had never been spoiled on the fact that this version added an extra zone. At first I thought it was pretty cool but this zone can be kinda frustrating. At one point near the very end I actually thought I got soft-locked because no matter where I went, I kept running into a roadblock but I eventually found a hidden room with the power bombs I was missing and was able to finish the game. Also, not exactly platform-accurate but playing it on the SNES controller was neat. I'm definitely looking forward to playing more classics with the retro controllers.

Got myself a new whip... a VW ID5 in "Costa Azul" Blue. It's so pretty.