What Games Are You Playing?

10. Wario World (GameCube via NSO)

I finished this a few months ago now but never wrote up on it.

Wario World is a short, collectathon 3D platformer, and the only 3D entry in the Wario series. This is a game I always wanted to play since I was young but never had the chance to so I'm glad it's now available on NSO.

This was a fun game with some clunky gameplay here and there. I decided to go for the 100% completion here which I feel is the best way to play this game as it's incredibly short and getting everything isn't that challenging though there are a few incredibly frustrating collectibles, I'm looking at you ice stage.

Wario's movement is somewhat a 3D interpretation of the Wario Land series with elements of how Wario plays in SM64 DS plus some new abilities. This worked well enough in the game and was fun to control despite a bit of jank.

I don't have much else to say but I'd recommend checking out this out due to it's short length and being a one of a kind for the Wario series. I would like to see the idea revisited one day.

11. Super Metroid (SNES via NSO)

After a bit of a break from the Metroid series it was finally time to continue my journey with the series in its legendary third entry and first and foremost I can see why this is one of the greats. Building upon Planet Zebes from the original game, the map design and exploration is top notch, always being something to discover. I really appreciated the show not tell of this game and apart from having to look up how to wall jump, I am proud to have made all the discoveries myself, collecting all the notable upgrades (I didn't get every missile, energy tank etc. though).

This also has some of my favourite bosses from the series so far as well, especially the final boss, that whole segment in general was great and so cinematic for a SNES title.

I was surprised as to how well this game still holds up as well, you wouldn't even think it's from the mid-90's at times, really stood the test of time though there are a few out-of-date elements such as the aforementioned Wall Jump which has some awkward controls but the more I played, I mostly got the hang of it. The only other major thing was that you can't see the map of areas you are not currently in which can lead to a bit of aimlessly traversing areas but it wasn't a huge deal, especially one you remember certain locations.

I still adore Zero Mission but I think this may have taken the throne of my favourite entry in the series now and definitely a game I wanted to revisit in the future.

I am taking a short break before jumping into Fusion and diverting to playing Other M next as it is next in the canonical timeline for the non-Prime games. I am aware Other M isn't the most well received game in the series but I want to give it a fair chance with no biases, I'm actually quite looking forward to it.

12. Star Fox (2026) (Switch 2)

I finally jumped into my second Nintendo Switch 2 game and this was a great time.

I have previously played Star Fox 64 3D back when it released and though I did quite enjoy it, I don't think I ever did more than the one standard playthrough which isn't the best way to play Star Fox as I have discovered with this remake.

To start off, like many others I was taken aback by the designs but I have come to like them now that I am used to them. Graphically as well this is a gorgeous game to look that, a great reimagining of the Lylat system.

At its core though, this is still Star Fox 64 at heart despite the new coat of paint but that isn't a bad thing as this feels to be the definitive version of said game, running smoothly and every action you take in the Arwing is a joy to control, it's just fun to play which is partly what led me to re-playing the game for its different routes and endings.

For my first playthrough I just did the standard route which means not unlocking alternate routes but I was also learning the game so I wasn't going out of my way to meet the requirements either. This is a fine way to play but I feel going for the alternate routes makes the game much more interesting such as accessing the wormhole in Meteo or going on a stealth mission in Zoness as well as the obvious, achieving the true ending on Venom 2, a much more satisfying ending compared to the standard one. It took me three playthrough's to access all the stages but I plan to do more to complete the other objectives to getting alternate routes, mixing up the stages to see how the story plays out.

With how much praise this game has got it'd be crazy if Nintendo don't develop a new, original Star Fox game, I know they can do great things with it. In the meantime we have Star Fox Adventures on NSO which I know is an incredibly different type of game but one I've always wanted to try, it is also the next canonically after SF64 so it just makes sense to jump into that next. Hopefully Assault will follow sooner than later.

It has been a great time finally getting into Nintendo's notable sci-fi series properly with Metroid especially quickly becoming one of my new favourite video game series in general and Star Fox looking promising after this recent remake. The future is looking bright for both of these series which I am more than happy to see, more-so becoming a recent fan.
 
13. Metroid: Other M (Wii)

Metroid: Other M is a 3D take on the traditional 2D Metroid games developed in collaboration between Nintendo and Team Ninja (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive).

This has always been a very divisive game in the series but I wanted to judge it for myself and though it's not a perfect game, I enjoyed this tremendously in all honestly.

Taking place between Super Metroid and Fusion we get to see the backstory of series protagonist Samus Aran as she comes into contact with her former commander, Adam Malkovich (and crew) while investigating a distress signal coming from the Bottle Ship, the location the game takes place in. The plot and character writing is what most fans dislike about this game, especially when it comes to Samus herself, most criticisms regarding how she has PTSD when facing Ridley again despite facing him many times before and appearing a bit more weak and vulnerable in general, along with this is how monotone she comes across when monologing her thoughts about the current situation or her past. I agree that in the English language version of the game (I can't say about other languages) Samus is very monotone and sometimes, the monologues can be a bit much at times but when it comes to the emotional side of her, I have to disagree there, considering everything she has gone through at this point in her life, especially with what takes place at the end of Super Metroid, anyone would be insane to not feel even slightly broken mentally. Now I know this is because of how stoic she is in previous titles and it can be a bit of whiplash but I personally appreciated seeing this side of Samus, I felt like I got to understand her better as a protagonist. I will also say the execution isn't flawless and is cheesy at times but with what we got, I don't mind it.

Moving onto gameplay, it is is a mixed bag, for the most part I did enjoy my time but it is a bit jank and this is due to the game being played with only a Wii remote. The majority of the time you will be holding the Wii remote on its side, with this you can perform the majority of actions Samus can perform in the 2D games with not much trouble but when it comes to using missiles or scanning an area you have to turn the Wii remote upright and pointing at the screen / sensor bar, going into a first-person mode similar to that of the Prime series. I'd say I have a pretty good Wii set-up but a good amount of the time I just felt it didn't work and I was moving the position of my Wii remote between the two modes, this really isn't helpful in a more intense situation, especially if an enemy only has a small window to use a missile on it as when you're in first-person you can not move or dodge, giving early Resident Evil vibes in a way. I think an alternate controller set-up would had fixed this for sure, especially if the Nunchuk was integrated. Despite that, when it is responsive, it does feel good switching between views, adding some strategy to the fights.

When it comes to the exploration aspect of the game, it is similar to that of the 2D gamea but much more linear compared to other titles, if you want to go out of your way though, you can get extra missile and energy upgrades but you won't miss anything important if you choose not to do so as new abilities are unlocked automatically as the story progresses unlike other titles. I did enjoy my time exploring the Bottle Ship though and I think they did a decent job adapting the 2D formula to 3D, I would like to see this sort of gameplay attempted again someday as with some tweaking and a better control scheme, it could definitely work well I feel.

One more highlight of the game are the bosses, these might be my favourite set of bosses overall so far, being very action heavy, a decent challenge as well as cinematic, there is also a fun, surprising boss during the epilogue as well which I appreciated, definitely play the short segment after the credits roll.

Overall Other M is an underrated game IMO, far from perfect with some jank gameplay and a divisive story but a hell of a fun time. I did find it hard to put down and easily got through the game in a couple of days, could be done in one so it isn't a huge commitment either. If you enjoy Metroid or even 2000's / 2010's action games (you can feel the Ninja Gaiden likeness in it) and you haven't checked it out before or was wary, I'd say go for it, it is an inexpensive game and is just a fun time overall if you can look past its faults. Looking online it does seem like more and more people are coming around to appreciating this game nowadays which is good to see and I'm glad I'm not alone with that sentiment.

Next, I will back to the 2D games with Fusion, after that I am not sure when I'll be able to get to Dread as it has sold out everywhere atm and second-hand prices are less than ideal but I'm sure I'll get my hands on it sooner than later.
 
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Big news guys - I have a Steam Machine now!! (Went for 2TB with Controller!) I'm playing a really interesting visual novel called Cinders that's based on Cinderella, with a "your choices/decisions matter" emphasis, and Wandersong, a beautiful and funny game where you play a bard who sings and dances to save the world. I really like both, and I'm excited to get much faster internet in early-mid-November so I can do more with the Steam Machine :)
 
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