VIDEO GAME: Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Year: 2023 Rating: E Time Played: ~10 hours For decades, it's felt like the true innovation of the Mario franchise has been with its 3D titles. It almost became a running gag that the most creative Mario levels were the ones made by fans in Super Mario Maker. Then along came Super Mario Bros. Wonder. While each Mario game has had its own gimmick to make it interesting, this one went all out and had an entire game filled with gimmicks. Each level has something unique to experience, and you never quite know what's coming next. Everything in this game is so bright, crisp, colorful, and whimsical. Nothing overstayed its welcome. If anything, I wanted to replay levels because the transformation caused by the Wonder flower was so fun that I wished there was more of it. Some of the Wonder sections were legitimately hilarious, while others really broke the mold for what a Mario game could do. That the core...
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VIDEO GAME: Gato Roboto (2019)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Gato RobotoYear: 2019Rating: ETime Played: 210 minutes / 3.50 hours Here’s the hook: you control a cat who can also pilot a mecha robot. That’s Gato Roboto. It’s a simple Metroidvania, both in length and graphics, but the charm of the concept itself makes it worth a play-through. It almost reminds me of Earthworm Jim (where a worm pilots a humanoid power suit) without all the weird gross-out elements. Despite its straightforward concept, Gato Roboto has a bit of a learning curve. Fortunately, given enough time and practice, it can be beaten in a couple of hours. Your mileage may vary given how used to Metroidvanias and Souls-like games you are. Plot-wise, Gato Roboto has some amusing little twists and turns that help drive the game forward. I love that the principal antagonist is a rat/mouse in a variety of mecha robots. There isn’t too much backtracking/looping involved here, which usually lengthens how long it takes to get through a Metroidvania—thus the...
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VIDEO GAME: Hue (2016)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Hue Year: 2016 Rating: E Time Played: 270 minutes / 4.50 hours The strength of a 2-D puzzle platformer boils down to how well its gimmick works. In this genre, you move from point A to point B and collect items in tough spots for an added challenge. It's how BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! works, and it's how Gris works. If the puzzle aspect is lacking, then the game just becomes a platformer. And making an interesting platformer is its own challenge. Fortunately, Hue has a well-done puzzle gimmick. Using colors to solve puzzles also gave this game a natural difficulty curve that was satisfying to complete. I'll applaud Hue for having some semblance of a plot that explains why changing the colors of the background is the main mechanic. I'm not wild about the student falling in love with her professor, though. It's also obvious that these sections of exposition could have easily been edited out since they occur in corridors that are just long...
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