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Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘THE WIZARD’
It’s So Bad The Wizard is a needlessly dark road trip movie about a young boy trying to find closure after the death of his twin sister. The rest of the movie doesn’t seem to understand that because that portion of the plot was written at the last minute, so it plays much more like a kids version of Rain Man, where the older brother exploits his younger, video game master brother for his own financial gain. Literally. The Wizard, as it juggles it darker elements, also serves as a commercial for Nintendo. An antagonist sports the Power Glove; it boasts several scenes of the titular boy wonder excelling at arcade games that are actually their Nintendo versions; and it culminates…
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REVIEW: Pokemon Unite – An Easy to Learn MOBA
When Pokemon Unite was revealed back in 2020, the fandom went on a rampage. Fast-forward nearly two years later, and the pocket monsters have their own version of League of Legends. The gameplay is exceptionally simplistic. Each match contains a fight between two teams of five players, using different fighters. There is an option of either playing randomly or having enough friends to form a squad. During these 10 minutes battles, each team needs to fight wild Pokemon and gather points to throw in the opposing team’s goalposts. While it is a requirement for every playable character, for characters like Venusaur, Gengar, or Greninja, those players start as the first…
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REVIEW: Mario Golf Super Rush
After close to 20 years, we’ve finally been given another Mario Golf title on a Nintendo console: Mario Golf: Super Rush. During the reveal trailer, they introduced several modes such as a campaign, like the fan favorites on Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance, on top of two new methods of play called Speed Golf and Battle Golf. In comparison to previous versions, Super Rush‘s way of incorporating a story mode is rather disappointing. Unlike its predecessor, there are no original characters. The closest thing to a newly introduced character is the Mii that players can choose for their savefile. In this story mode, the player gets access to different challenges…
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REVIEW: Famicon Detective Club The Missing Heir + The Girl Who Stands Behind (Switch)
The years are 1988 and 1989. Nintendo releases a pair of visual novels back to back for the Super Famicon (or as we know it in the west, Super Nintendo Entertainment System) named Famicon Detective Club: The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind. For The Girl Who Stands Behind, the player is meant to solve a murder mystery at a school that is said to be haunted by the ghost of a missing student. In The Missing Heir, the player is meant to solve a murder mystery while finding out the reason for his amnesia Players that enjoy visual novels will feel right at home with its point-and-click…
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REVIEW: New Pokemon Snap (Switch)
Pokemon is not a stranger when it comes to video game spinoffs. One of the many spinoffs that have been released over the years is a simple one, filled with charm, named Pokemon Snap on the Nintendo 64: an on-rail shooter with the objective of taking the photos of Pokemon. Although some monsters were open to some prime photography, others you had to lure out with bait and other tactics. Now, over 20 years later, The Pokemon Company, with the help of Bandai Namco, has released a long-awaited sequel named New Pokemon Snap for The Nintendo Switch. Instead of Professor Oak, the player helps the newly introduced Professor Mirror who…
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5 Game Ports That Nintendo Should Do Next
We all have games of old that we’d like to to play again on a newer console. It’s a big reason why backward compatibility is a selling point for consoles, after all. So with Super Mario 3D World’s re-release, I figured why not write about the games Nintendo should port next? Let’s take a look, shall we? Star Fox Zero (Wii U) Star Fox Zero is unique on this list because I have not been given a chance to play it. I would like to see this game ported because I wish to see more Star Fox, and I find it likelier to get a port then an entirely new…
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REVIEW: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
Considering the lackluster sales of the Wii U, it is not surprising that Nintendo thought it was necessary to port the “bigger” titles from that console generation to the Nintendo Switch. Just look at the current best-seller for Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and you can see that this legendary company knows what it is doing with its IP. Which made it just a matter of time before Super Mario 3D World joined the fray of games being ported to the Switch. Unlike previous ports, however, this one arrives with an expansion called Bowser’s Fury (something I will go over later in this review). The general basis of Super Mario…
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REVIEW: POKEMON: SWORD & SHIELD – CROWN TUNDRA DLC
Many moons ago, yours truly reviewed the first part of Pokémon: Sword & Shield’s expansion pack the Isle of Armor. And being the completionist that I am, a review of Crown Tundra, the second and supposedly last installment of the 8th generation of Pokémon games DLC, was a must. Now, the first point that I would like to make that deserves our utmost attention is that there are no rival trainers within the confines of the Tundra. This expansion focuses primarily on exploring the environment and the secrets that it holds, which benefits the release greatly. Also, the experience is significantly better when your main companion, Peony, is a more…
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Review: PAPER MARIO: THE ORIGAMI KING (2020)
Mario’s latest journey makes its way to the Nintendo Switch in Paper Mario: The Origami King. When the evil King Olly ventures to turn the world into an Origami Masterpiece, it is up to our favorite thinly-sliced plumber and Plumber Olivia to save it from the Origami King’s sinister plans. Paper Mario is a franchise that has suffered an identity crisis throughout the years, especially when it comes to its gameplay. Starting out as a simplistic turn-based JRPG reminiscent of SNES’ Super Mario RPG, it has gone all the way to an experimental quagmire that lacks definition and clarity of function. The meat of The Origami King lies within its…
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POKEMON SWORD AND SHIELD: THE ISLE OF ARMOR DLC Review
The first wave of the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield DLC brings us to the Isle of Armor. In this mystical island, the player has to take three trials in order to get the secret armor. I was initially unsure if I should review this DLC or not. But after playing through every mission of it, I found it worth doing a quick review of it on it’s own merit. The side story has its charm, with an environment that would be perfect for a fighting type leader. This island is what the Wild Area should be. Instead of just “grass as long as the eyes can see,” there are…