Nintendo 64 Game Review: Paper Mario

 Paper Mario came to the Nintendo 64 as the sequel to what was Super Mario RPG (It was actually supposed to be the sequel but.. stuff and reasons as to why that didn't happen).  However, in the midst of not necessarily being the sequel, came with a new series. One that legitimately still exists today.  With that, lets rediscover how the original Paper Mario was.

Positives:

1. Honestly, this game looks absolutely phenomenal for the next step up to the N64.  Everywhere is so graphically spectacular and made like a story book that you cannot help but be enamored by the art style that the devs did for the game.

2. Music wise, this game is also fantastic. Every single track in this game is just done very well. And it's such a gem to listen to.

3. I know the story may be a lot of the same, but the Mario/Bowzer dynamic hitting paper style actually does super well for the original.  It probably helps that the story starts with these two (eventually in later versions there are other fiends to deal with) and the story revolving the star rod is honestly pretty good overall that takes you to so many new worlds. 

4. The characters that Mario entrusts to help in the party are honestly super helpful throughout the game. Each of them has a skillset that can be powered up and they become better overall. My favorite was likely Sushie but more of them all are fantastic.

5. I also feel the sidequests in this game have some sort of importance to them, which is definitely good.  It's not that they are required, but they are fun to do. And when sidequests are fun, that makes typically for a good game!

Negatives:

1. There is only one main negative and to be fair, that is that the game is fairly easy to beat.  There are a couple of tricky bosses, but for the most part this game is very, very much able to be beaten without a single death.  Just make sure you have good items and you power up correctly and go from there.

Rating and Reaction: Paper Mario is honestly a splendid game on the Nintendo 64 and well worth a play. The graphics, story and music are all there.  The characters are fantastic throughout.  Even if the game is a bit on the easy side, it's well worth the price overall and I would highly recommend to anyone.  My overall rating is a 9 out of 10. 

Nintendo 64 Game Review: Yoshi's Story

 Yoshi's Story bounces off of the success of the SNES of Yoshi's Island into the Nintendo 64 with a lot less screaming baby Mario and more just wholesome fun with our favorite dinosaur.  What does this game do right? What does it get wrong? All that and more below!

Positives:

1. Graphics wise, this game looks absolutely spectacular.  It's a very well designed game, incredibly colorful and vibrant, and the graphics are simply amazing to marvel at in the N64 era.

2. The music is also superb, but much of this was to be expected with a Nintendo game it feels but still you have to hit the soundtrack and the folks at Nintendo did it with Yoshi's Story.

3. This is a tremendous game for young players who were coming of age in the 90's who wanted a quick game to play. Also a very easy pick up and play game. Both were still staples in the 1990's for those who didn't want to go through so many hours of playing other games and just pick up and play and go through a game in a weekend or a few days. 

4. The story is actually kind of cute to follow along with. I enjoyed the story for the most part (more on that below) but its a story that a lot of up and coming gamers will enjoy especially, considering the game is more pick up and play and breeze through it in a weekend's time

Negatives:

1. Unfortunately, if you are of the older variety who play this game for the first time later in life (It's me, I'm that person) you will find this game really, really easy. Which is fine, I am not the tailored market.  I will say this isn't an overwhelming negative though because I was the target audience when the game first released.  This is more of a "That's on me" type negative.

2. However, the boss (yes another one of those posts, like Star Fox 64) is just.. underwhelming at the end.  It doesn't help that it's essentially a recycled boss from a previous game just with a different trick up his sleeve. It's just one of those things where it seemed Nintendo wanted to grasp onto at least for a while (They changed this up a lot in future Yoshi games though.)

Final Thoughts: Another decent Nintendo game, albeit a bit lower on a rating scale than that of Yoshi's Story or Super Mario 64.  I think I said it was a 7.5 or 8 out of 10 at the time I beat it and after studying it longer, I'll stick with it.  It's definitely a very good game for kids getting into gaming, but for adults it probably falls short of expectations (which is definitely fine).

Nintendo 64 Game Review: Star Fox 64

 Star Fox 64 was the first Star Fox to hit the Nintendo 64 and the first game of the series played by yours truly (Hint: I became a Star Fox fan after and am planning to play Star Fox for the SNES at some point in 2026). So for this maiden adventure with Star Fox, Slippy, and crew, how do I think this game fared? Let's look below

Positives:

1. Honestly, this game does well for a third person camera. It does well showcasing on the radar as well where other enemies are while focusing on where your mission is. I feel the field of view is well done on this accord.

2. Controls aren't too slippery on maneuvering the ship or the land vehicles.  There is one where I will highlight later on the controls but mostly overall, the game is genuinely very smooth on utilizing maneuvering, shooting missiles at targets and artillery when needed.

3. I love the progression of how hard each and every difficulty of level it can be.  There are certain levels that feel like easy difficulty, some moderate, some hard difficulty and to be honest I absolutely enjoy that. It's such a nice twist to go through.

4. I feel like this game was a good graphics type game, especially considering how the SNES was much more barebones (based on seeing videos of Star Fox on SNES). A massive step up and feels like this was the console that the Star Fox series was made for.

Negatives:

1. I did say one part of the controls weren't as good, and it's the barrel roll is slippery but the trying to fly upside down is very inconsistent.  It's super hit and miss and it doesn't do well at all when you try to do it several times.  This was a frustrating thing I experienced on my playthrough.

2. I feel the end boss could be a bit better.  It's not that it is bad, it's just that it could be more than what it was.  Feels a bit of a let down that while we could have expected a formidable foe, it just ended up being what it was for a final boss (No spoilers from me, if you haven't played it.)

Rating and End Thoughts: Overall, solid starter Star Fox for me. The main parts of the game are played and put in very well and I thought the main objective of the game to be a step up from the SNES is well done.  There are some issues, but overall I felt like the game was fun to play through.  Overall, solid 8 out of 10 is warranted. 

Nintendo 64 Game Review: Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

 Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was the first Kirby game to hit the Nintendo 64, and it ended up being the only game on that platform to feature our pink bubblegum ball friend.  The cross over from the previous NES and SNES as well as Game Boy was a major change as this featured more ability to showcase a 3-D model with a 3-D type world.  How did this game fare overall? Well I got to ring in the new year in 2025 with this game, so let's see how it went!

Positives:

1. This game delivers in its next step up format from the SNES to deliver a pretty fluid game in a 3-D environment that the N64 did for one of its flagship franchises. It's a beautiful looking game overall, and it nails everything that past Kirby's are about into a more current console.

2. The story is simple, and the style of game is very much like other Kirby's of past and then to that present. It's incredibly easy to pick up and play and blitz through this game in the matter of an afternoon where you have free time, but the game just has that feel of being good.

3. For all the nuances that the N64 controller had that was.. weird about it.. Kirby 64 did well to utilize as much of the controller as possible.  Some other top games cannot hold that claim.  Most every button has some sort of use for the controller, which is a major plus considering the weirdness of that controller. 

4. The music is always phenomenal for Kirby but this again is just preaching to the choir.  The music in the game is fantastic, and well worth listening to.

Negatives:

1. Honestly, this is the major negative: The game is far too easy.  This is a staple feature of a lot of Kirby games, where they are trying to cater to a very young audience so they make the games pretty simplistic.  It just is what it is, and they know who they are tailoring the game to.

2. The game still struggles like its predecessors with frame rate.  This isn't something that was made better until the GameCube when it was finally figured out with Kirby, but at times this game moved very painfully slow, even on the N64.  

Reaction/Rating: Overall, a solid N64 game that did well to bring Kirby to the next generation of console, that ultimately led to future console games.  Kirby fans would do well to play this game, despite how simplistic it is. Overall, probably an 8 out of 10 works.