SNES Game Review: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

 Nintendo and Square Enix (Then Squaresoft) made a commitment to one of Nintendo's and gaming's biggest characters in the mid 1990's.  What came of it was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.  A game that brought so much for so many people that to this day is beloved.  It inspired the remake in 2023 that also came to much acclaim and universal love.  So what does this game from 1996 do well? Was there anything they could improve on? All that and more below!

Positives:

1. I don't think I need to say graphics are a huge plus here do I when it is Nintendo and Square?

2. I also don't think I need to say soundtrack is also a huge plus when it is Square and Nintendo, do I?

3. Now to the actual analysis, the story is fantastic. The fact that you can get so many new characters involved in one way or another, whether good or evil, through this game is fantastic.  The story is deep enough to be grabbing but light enough to motor through the game easily with enough twists and turns to it to last a lifetime honestly.  It's all around just a job very well done.

4. The new characters are to be highlighted, Geno and Mallow.  They both have a skill set that can do well when needed, or they can just hang out when needed too.  Overall, Geno is the better character but Mallow can be clutch when needed and put into the spotlight with his abilities.  They were terrific additions to the game.  For the opposite side, the Smithy Gang are great villains that provide the evil for the game.  Whether its the bosses or just Smithy himself, it's a good addition to the game that otherwise may have just been another Mario v. Bowser clone.  Speaking of Bowser..

5. How cool is it that he goes from villain to comedic relief to playing hero here? It's an arc that very few characters could lay claim to, and to be honest it was one that I thought wouldn't work but Bowser makes it work here.  The guy is a tank of a character as well, so he really helps get it done for Mario and company.  But what about the Princess?

6. Also another fantastic addition to the party.  Peach's skill set really is as a healer, but she can be a good force when needed to attack as well.  She is a better healer than Mallow, but comes up clutch with her Group Hug attack that also heals the party of status ailments.  She also provides great dialogue between bosses, or Mario/Bowser or with Smithy.

Negatives:

1. Unfortunately there are a couple.  The first is the main one I had with this game.  The isometric platforming in this game left a LOT to be desired. It is the one main game problem that I have with it.  The platforming was a struggle really with most levels and areas overall.  

2. The only other issue I would say is the game played far too easy at times.  Overall, though not a terrible issue. Most other people may or may not say the same.  To me, it's a minor negative but one I thought should be noted.

Rating:

Overall, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars deserves a 9 out of 10.  I would warrant it a 10 even with the difficulty if they figured out the platforming, which is the only major negative of the game.  Definitely play this game if you can get the chance on the SNES, but with the new Switch version doing a lot of great things too, definitely play that game too!

Nintendo 64 Game Review: Pokemon Snap

 The 1990's were full of fads, crazes, and shows with almost cult-like followings.  From track suits, to the dot com bubble (and bust) to shows like Power Rangers developing huge followings, seemingly everything happened in this decade that either touched gold or touched disaster (or in the case of Power Rangers, seemingly both.) One such show that became a phenomenon with a major following became Pokemon, which to this date continues onward with shows, games, and mobile games as well.  One such Pokemon game that came at the probable height of its fandom was Pokemon Snap.  A game that features.. literally.. taking pictures of Pokemon in their 'natural' habitat.  It was popular as a game for Pokemon Gamers, but also Nintendo gamers, and it came back in 2021 with a new game, New Pokemon Snap (yes they could have used Pokemon Snap II but.. I digress.)  How does the original do for the N64? What needed to be improved?

Positives:

1. It's a quick paced game with quick paced levels.  Since the scope of the game is so limited, you can't really attract an audience well with a game that takes forever to complete.  Pokemon Snap can be done in a couple of hours and keep you wanting to complete the game fully as best as possible.  The fact the levels typically only take about 4-5 minutes each is a good thing for the game.

2. The replayability factor of the levels is big here, as you have to replay levels with different items that you get.  It's not a totally great replayable game, but the levels that you have to do are major and needed overall to extend the game's time span.  I feel they did a good job developing the game to have the levels be replayed over and over again.

3. Graphically, the game is fantastic.  Nintendo and the group that made this game did a terrific job with graphics and making this game and its levels look exquisite.

4. Same for the soundtrack, as the soundtrack is beautifully done and is exquisite as well.

5. The controls aren't too jerky, odd or anything while taking pictures.  You won't have too much issue with focusing the camera as it is already auto-focused in so you won't have blurriness like you might have IRL taking photos.

Negatives:

1. The game is very limited in scope with not much more to offer. It's taking pictures of Pokemon, there isn't much else to it.  And you had better take them well because..

2. Professor Oak's grading system has to be about the worst grading system I have ever come across in a game or real life.  if a pokemon is top-middle or bottom-middle by a bunch, you still get credit.  If it is even THE SLIGHTEST bit off center though, you are downgraded horrifically.  His grading system for including other Pokemon is also just terrible.  How did this dude allow Ash, Gary and others to determine Pokemon fate instead of a good professor?

3. With the game limited in scope, it's also limited in Pokemon.  There are only 60 Pokemon to take photos of here, well short of the 151 it would typically manage overall.  It just falls flat to have just some Pokemon and not even a majority of the beginning amount. 

Rating:

Overall, Pokemon Snap is a good-to-very good Pokemon game and a good N64 game.  The negatives definitely prevent it from being great.  However, it's popularity kept it going to the point they got a new game in 2021.  There is no escaping the road this game helped build for the future of Pokemon in America in the peak of its time.  Overall, a 7.5 out of 10 works for Pokemon Snap

SNES Game Review: Shaq Fu

 Shaquille O'Neal is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and one of America's most notable people.  The legend came into the NBA with a force and instantly was one of the biggest megastars in the 90's, helping propel the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers back to greatness.  His story off the court is well known as well, as he was a part of music, movies, and even a video game, Shaq Fu.  This game was very much critically maligned and excoriated for a number of reasons, of which may be discussed today.  However, was this game really, truly the worst game on the SNES (Quick Answer: No.) So what was a positive, if any, for this game? What were the negatives? All that and more below!

Positives:

1. The graphics in this game, even without a graphics card are actually quite good.  EA did a really good job on this aspect.  Unlike a lot of games in the fighting style where graphics were not great, this game actually was done well.

2. The sprite movements, also done quite well.  You can tell when the attack is big, and it's also fluid and well done.  The parries are also done in a good way.  Overall the movements are fluid, not too jerky and the moves and parries are good in this game.

3. If you want a quick to play, get it out of the way, type game, this is for you.  The story is not going to take you long at all, and it is progressively more difficult with all the different modes.  So it's a decent pick up and play quick game, with also a play now mode so you can just play against a different character without really jumping into story mode (Note, the Genesis version of this game has three more stages and five more characters, so it's more in-depth there.)

Negatives:

1. Story mode is just..bad. Just honest, it's bad, and it's deserving of criticism.  It's not done well at all, and done with the purpose of being quick with no good dialogue whatsoever.  It's just go place, trash talk each other, then fight. Which leads me to..

2. The fighting combat controls are just.. so bad. They are all over the place and wonky and it's just not a great thing, especially when the game is made for *checks notes* FIGHTING! Yeah.. as much as the positives brought it out, the main thing of this game is bad.  The controls are all over, it's almost impossible to set them to what you want, and the special moves are meh at best. Definitely not what a good fighting game should be.

3. The characters themselves leave a lot to be desired. They are just.. meh at best and seem to play at stereotypes of them from the 90's (which lets be honest, haven't exactly gone away 30 years later.) But overall, stereotyping aside, they just leave a lot to be desired and its just a let down. 

Rating:

This is at best a below average fighting game with it's main thing just bad.  However, this is not one of the worst SNES games, and it's far from it.  IT's below average at best, bad at worst, but no where near the terrible games like Pit Fighter, Race Drivin, Waialae Country Club and much more. This isn't even in the 100 worst categories, because there are FAR, FAR worse games.  With this game, a 4.5 out of 10 works, and honestly, it would probably rank between 500th-550th in the SNES scale.

PS2 Game Review: Dark Cloud

 Dark Cloud is a game that had two iterations on the PS2 (this and Dark Cloud 2, also noted Dark Chronicles overseas) and this game can be noted as a city building, dungeon conquering RPG.  It came out In December 2000 in Japan, while coming out in 2001 for North America and Europe. It sold initially poorly in Japan, but had a much better selling record in the Americas and in Europe.  It is a game that I never played until 2024.  How did I like this game? Was there anything I think that they should have improved on? All that and more below!

Positives:

1. Graphics are fantastic in this game.  This was near the start of the PS2 system so it was going to be a step up but this game done by Level 5 deserves high remarks for their graphics work.  This game is very well done graphically.

2. City building is necessary, but it's entirely optional how you want to do it. I love that the game gives you the freedom to be able to do things the way you want, while instituting what you should do for something (IE: making sure a pond connects fully to a waterway) but the scale of it is you should be able to be randomized with where you put things and that is good with me.

3. I like most of the partners you get in this game.  They have a very unique skillset and one that makes sense overall.  A lot of them are very unique to overcoming trials of the dungeon that they are affiliated with. 

4. Music is also a really good positive to this game, I feel that they did really well for the soundtracks of really anywhere and it was really well done I feel overall.

5. I honestly loved the story towards the end of it.  It provides twists and turns with all the dungeons but also a story of the final dungeon and what needed to happen was simply fantastic.  I thought they did really well explaining the full story in details throughout the entirety of the game.

6. It's a great final boss.  Like any final boss, multiple forms but a great duel.  Overall thought it was a very good final boss and one most people would enjoy

Negatives:

1. The combat is so repetitive and that really drags the game down. It is really easy to figure out the bosses and what to do.  It also makes it kind of a lot longer on the fights than they need to, because it's just a lot of switching characters and utilizing the others.  

2. Some of the mandatory characters of the dungeon levels are a bit much.  Mainly because most of them have such a limited skillset to try to find the dungeon level key or main thing to advance the level.. which brings me to.

3. Why is Osborn the last guy to get? It just feels forced (Sorry if spoiler as well) but it just feels so forced to put him in when.. there arguably didn't need to be a reason.

Rating:

Overall, Dark Cloud deserves a 8 out of 10.  I didn't mind the repetitive nature of the dungeons too much, but the characters being forced in is something rough. However the combat is the main thing that makes it go to an 8 instead of higher.  Had they figured out not to make combat for both regular enemies plus bosses not as repetitive and redundant, this would be a lot higher ranked game.  Still a good playthrough and should be given a chance for anyone.

PS2 Game Review: Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

 Dirge of Cerberus follows the Final Fantasy VII timeline of following FF7: Advent Children, which follows the original FF7, which followed.... you get the point.  Anyway, Dirge of Cerberus plays a far different role than that of the other games and movie.  This follows around Vincent Valentine, that vampire looking guy that was a Turk that joined the party from the OG game that you barely cared about (unless you used him extensively because good on you.) This game showcases him as he faces.. let's just say his past and helps him gain into the future? Yeah, let's go with that.  Let's see what this game does well, not well and what I would rate it.

Positives:

1. Vincent's backstory is key here.  THANK GOD they FINALLY told something of the guy from prior to joining the party in the OG game. The backstory of his leads into the current present, but its so good to see Vincent FINALLY get something for what fans probably clamored for for years (at least that's what I thought when this game came out in 2006.)

2. Graphics and music are good in this game. It's a good combination overall. It's a good look into what the PS2 could do, especially with a lot of the pre-rendered materials that they use in this game.  Something that Sony kinda struggles with today honestly.

3. It's a quick enough story.  It's filled with action, but there's more honestly a straight forward story of what you need to do and I appreciated that for a game that is more or less an extension of preceding factors in the FF7 story.

Negatives:

1. The lock-on and combat are miserable in this game.  The lock on is not a good one, and the combat is subpar at best.  All it is is Vincent just running around and hoping that he gets the aim correct or morphs into his galian beast to help him overall.  It's just honestly below average on all accords.

2. While the story is straight forward, a lot of the missions are just.. confusing and again lackluster.  It's just eh at best and the story also paints a very much different picture of Lucrecia (while continuing to revile Hojo) and you have nothing but to feel for Vincent on this accord. It's not his fault or anything he did wrong, it's something that happened to him.

3. It just feels like this could have been explained in full with his part of the story but added the game after but that's just me.  A lot of his backstory doesn't take long to talk about, and in fact just covers small parts of the game itself.  The other part of this game is the fact that so many other characters like Reeve just feel so forced to be in the game.  It just feels awkward overall. 

Rating:

At best this game is a 6 out of 10.  It doesn't wow you which a Final Fantasy should at least do that. It has a good story, but is put back by the missions being lackluster.  Vincent's story overall is good, but is offset by how bad Hojo and Lucrecia are.  It just felt like more could have been done here.  

PS2 Game Review: Kingdom Hearts II

 Kingdom Hearts II comes off the success of Kingdom Hearts I and the seemingly decent success of Chain of Memories and in the story, comes at the end of the game, 358/2 Days.  It's the best way to describe the story in chronological order.  It released on the PS2, and it came out to much acclaim.  To be fair, it's unfair to compare this game to Chain of Memories, so let's make it more comparable to KH1.  However, it may do another injustice with this as we get the next iteration to the story of Kingdom Hearts.  So what's this game done well? What did not go well? All that and more below!

Positives:

1. Sora's story continues to progress and be terrific.  However, this being intermingled with Roxas makes it better.  You see the greatness in both but also how mystifying it is for Sora, and how infuriating it was for Roxas, to have this happen.  However, in the end, it made it all worth it.

2. The incorporation of most of the Disney worlds here made the game well worth it.  Personally, I found Pride Rock and Land of Dragons being the best with the Coliseum being third.  I think they got the most of the characters, the landscape, and the story overall.  Also, the boss fights in all of these are pretty good overall (and makes for some historically terrific one-liners and advice.)

3. Reaction commands worked for the most part very well.  Yes there are some flub-ups with input, some delay, but I feel if they kept with it to make it less of a delay, you would have seen this perfected going forward.  I felt this was a good start overall though for this feature.

4. Obviously the soundtrack, the graphics are fantastic.  This shouldn't be much more noted than this.

5. The newer, non-Disney, worlds and their stories are fantastically done as well.  The story revolving around those are terrific.  The last world and the back story and continuance of it are splendid and well worth the praise.

6. The fight for Riku is also noted here and I like that they continue making progress to this.  It's a major plus to what goes on with Sora and Roxas.  It's a solid part of the story that continued with the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Negatives:

1. The fact that they made Namine and Kairi essentially non-existent is just.. rough.  Yes they play roles, but they should play much larger roles in the story.  Unfortunately it's something that they don't do and it's something they should have done.

2. There's just some worlds that don't matter.  Pirates doesn't play a large role, Pride Lands is practically irrelevant, and Atlantica is just something that exists.  It would have been fantastic for every world to play a much larger role than it actually did.

3. Everything just feels slow in the way of combat and the exploitation of the mana system is just too prevalent to not mention.  It is a step up from KH1, but something that still needed to be better overall.

4. Exploration is non-existent but also I feel that it wasn't something that was prioritized given the story and the worlds and depth of the game.  It would have been cool that we had something that led to great treasure, like in KH3, or some side content/story, or a super boss.  However, it wasn't to be and that is fine too.

Rating:

KH2 is worth an 8.5 to a 9.  It's well worth the play through, either OG or Final Mix edition.  It's a great story builder for the game that allows the game to press forward after what happened in Chain of Memories. It's a great game that teeters on being excellent overall

PS2 Game Review: Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories

 Kingdom Hearts is known for a lot of things.  It's known for heroism, togetherness, friendship, bravery and some really weird attack systems.  You have the command deck, the affinity for reaction commands, flowmotion and most important in the set of weird attack system, card sleights.  That is what KH Chain of Memories on the Game Boy Advance and KH Re:Chain of Memories on the PS2 (and future consoles) displayed for an attack system.  For this game, you focus on KH1 hero Sora going into a massive castle that rids his memories.  It also parallels his best friend, Riku, in a twist of wondering how he can use the darkness to his own better future.  On top of that, this is the main introduction to what fans know as Organization XIII.  So what does this game do well? What does it do that isn't good? We'll separate this up by Sora's story and Riku's story.

Sora's Story Positives:

1. The end is really good.  I enjoyed the last couple of worlds you have to venture with Sora in this game.  That's the best way to say it.  The worlds aren't massive in length but are actually fun to go around and see and fight in.

2. The ability to go through and make the sleights are something that is really neat and something that makes you really think of strategy and how to make your deck to make the best combo, healing, making the elixirs and potions work and so much more.  I felt this was a good step forward in making the game good from an attacking/strategy standpoint.

3. Visually, this game is fantastic on either the GBA on the original Chain of Memories or the PS2 version.  It's fantastic in its own right of course, compared to today. But in this time frame, the graphics and honestly the soundtrack were both fantastic overall.  It's a job well done by the folks with Disney and Square for this game.

4. The boss fights, for the most part, are a challenge but they are doable and they are worth the challenge.  The best are against the Organization members and the in-between worlds fights.  So I would definitely have to recommend a lot of those boss fights.

Sora's Story Negatives:

1. There is just so much rehashing and the rehashing of the bosses in the worlds.  That's a major downside to Sora's side of the story and something that really just feels like a letdown.

2. The story just feels so dull even with the last couple worlds.  It's just really, really a downside overall. It's a sobering reminder that not all KH games could be great with story, but coming off the greatness that started with KH1, it's a bit frustrating that they couldn't make it better than this.

Riku's Story Positives:

1. This adds another perspective and it adds Riku's trials and tribulations as he fights the darkness and tries to come out on top of this.  It's a good view into the struggles that he deals with.

2. His story with the worlds is honestly done very well in a straight forward fashion. There is no major pomp and circumstance.  There are just straight forward and you do one thing, get to the end, and finish the world.  This makes it for a solid, quick deal.

Riku's Story Negatives:

1. Oh boy, did I rage at the final boss.  There's a major reason.  There's simply no reason that he can break everything while you can do next to nothing on it.  On top of if you get a great break, his guardian can block something as well.  It's incredibly frustrating and made me just quit the fight, check the ending on Youtube.  To me, it's just a terrible mechanic. Which btw, that's the ending? Kinda just.. weak.

2. His deck is fine.. if you like it being extremely limited and having to do a lot more to be strategic with it than Sora's.  It's just kind of annoying especially later in the game. It's just again, fine to be strategic but to be this limited in what you can do is just not the way to go about it.

Rating:

My best rating I can say for it is 6 out of 10.  It's not a bad game, but certainly not great.  I can't rate this as good either.  Just above average overall. If you want to play it as a first time playthrough, great. If you want to watch the cutscenes though, I don't blame you overall.