Tag: Video Games

Copper is the New Wood

January 4th, 2026

I don’t even recognize this game anymore.

About a week ago as of posting this, I rediscovered Minecraft after not having played it in months, and I was very surprised by how many new features have been added recently. While I actually had a few different ideas for games I wanted to review this week, my brain, for some reason, decided that I was not going to feel any motivation whatsoever to play or think about anything other than Minecraft. This is not the first time I’ve felt this way, and I’m sure this minor addiction that I’ve fallen back into won’t last forever. That being said, I figure why not work with rather than against my brain this week and write about the thing that I’m going to be thinking about anyway. Before I begin, I should mention that I play on bedrock edition, so everything I’m going to be talking about may or may not be true for java edition.

As you may have guessed from the title, one of the most striking changes since I last played is actually from the latest update titled “The Copper Age.” This update added practically an endless amount of copper items including armor, weapons, and even doors. I remember the days when you would have endless copper sitting in your chests with no real use other than crafting your hundredth lightning rod. So, I bet you can imagine my surprise when I learned that copper is now seemingly the new wood. Think of literally anything you can craft with wood and there is a very good chance you can make it with copper now too. I’ve actually been having trouble with finding enough copper for all of my new ideas.

Out of all the new copper items, by far the coolest of the new copper craftables is the copper golems, which are not only incredibly cute but also have a pretty awesome use. Most people strive to have an organized storage room in their base but actually making that a reality can be a hassle at times. I know I was tired of having to sort all of my produce into my chests after harvesting my gardens—Luckily, I don’t have to anymore! I can just hire one of these little guys and they’ll get to right work. The copper golem will take items from nearby copper chests and sort them into wooden chests that have the same item. It’s actually really cool to watch. It doesn’t work perfectly; it only remembers the last nine chests it’s looked in, so if you have more than nine chests it will spend forever rechecking the same chests over and over until it eventually decides to check the correct chest. Still, I think if I took some time to set it up a little bit smarter, copper golems could be really useful.

Minecraft also looks a lot different than it did a year ago. Apparently last July an update titled “Spring to Life” updated the graphics to look more realistic. I think the realism it’s going for is a little silly considering everything is made of blocks, but you can’t deny that it’s really pretty. The thing that has thrown me off most is the fact that water is clear instead of the bright blue it used to be. Now I can see the bottom of the pond I made in my survival world and it’s not that pretty. Another change to the game’s visuals that was released a few months before the graphics update is the addition of cow, pig, and chicken variants. Similar to how the wolf variants work, depending on what biome you’re in, you may find interestingly colored versions of all different animals. Does this actually affect the gameplay? No, not really. Do I get excited when I find a brown chicken? Yes.

This article is mainly about the updates since I last played, but I’d also like to briefly talk about what else I’ve been working on in the hours upon hours I’ve played of Minecraft in the last week or so. I decided to pick up where I left off on a survival mode file I started about a year ago, and I think I made quite a bit of progress this week. I had taken over a village I found on the side of a mountain (though unfortunately all of the villagers have died at this point) and I built my base right at the top. I’ve built various different farms and buildings around the village so far, including my latest two: a dripstone farm and a cobblestone generator! Sadly, the one thing I cannot figure out is how to build a bee farm, which is what I really need so I can wax all of my copper blocks before they oxidize. For now, though, let’s just pretend the partially oxidized copper (with some blocks more oxidized than others) gives my buildings character or something like that.

My little brother has been popping in and out of the world while I’ve been playing and he actually built the nether portal I’ve been using. I had wanted to search for a dried ghast so I could show off a little bit of the new-ish happy ghast gameplay, but I immediately scratched that plan after going down to collect wood. Being not a big fan of horror, maybe I’m just not used to anything slightly scary, but I had forgotten how much the nether freaks me out. Whenever I tried to chop down any warped trees, I kept getting startled by a zombie piglin that had snuck up on me from behind. I’m sure I’ll eventually try going back, but I’m not really in a rush.

While Minecraft is a lot different than it used to be, the game still hasn’t lost the charm that makes me keep coming back for more. Really, most of what I’ve been doing this last week is building with the same blocks this game has had for years. (As a side note, I really like the new shelf blocks that were added with The Copper Age, I just haven’t figured out where to put them in my base.) The game could never receive another update, and it would still be incredible. Nevertheless, I’m really enjoying messing around with these new features, and I can’t wait to see what Mojang adds next.
I Can’t Decide if I Like Pokémon Friends or Find it Annoying

November 17th, 2025

Pokémon’s latest mobile game targeted little kids, but instead they got me.

A couple of months ago I was looking for a new mobile game to play. While I love playing Cut the Rope, it just wasn’t cutting it anymore. So, I perused the app store for a little while until I finally came across a game I wanted to try. Pokémon Friends is a cute, Pokémon themed puzzle game that released over the summer. Being both a fan of puzzle games and Pokémon, this game seemed right up my alley. The main audience for this game is younger kids, but I’ve actually found it quite fun.

The main loop of Pokémon Friends consists of completing puzzles, earning yarn, and making Pokémon plushies. At the beginning of the game, the player arrives in a place called “Think Town”, and apparently today is the day that you are finally going to fulfill your lifelong dream of making Pokémon plushies. The only problem is that all of your yarn is totally tangled, and, for some reason that the game doesn’t explain, the only way to untangle it is to solve puzzles. Once you have some untangled yarn, you are ready to throw it in the “Plush-o-Matic” and see what type of Pokémon plush you get. Oh, you thought you were going to make the stuffed animals yourself, didn’t you? There are many different kinds of yarn you can get that each have their own rates for how often you get certain plushies. The randomness is supposed to be like opening blind bags, which I know kids love, but it gets kind of annoying later in the game when you need a certain kind of Pokémon for requests (which I will get into later). There is a way to select a plush that you’ve already gotten randomly before to make it again, but it uses multiple balls of yarn and still isn’t the best system. Also, as a side note, I like how the Plush-o-Matic, which is shaped like a giant Poké Ball, shakes in the same way Poké Balls normally do when you are trying to catch a Pokémon.

The puzzles themselves are pretty entertaining. My favorite of the puzzles I’ve played is “Sableye’s Twisty Tracks,” where you have to rotate minecart tracks on a grid to make a path for Sableye’s minecart to get to the end. Additionally, there is “Pikachu’s Power Lines” which is one of those puzzles where you have to fill in the grid using one continuous line. Those are not the only ones, though, as there are several different types of puzzles, each of which have nine different difficulty levels. Each time you play it moves you up or down one difficulty level depending on how you perform. They never get that difficult per se, but when you get to higher levels, the timer starts seeming annoyingly short. It also cuts you off after the one-minute time limit, so if you can’t finish on time, you won’t get the satisfaction of figuring it out. Nevertheless, I enjoy the puzzles, and while none of them are particularly original, I really like the variety that they have.

I’m sure you’re asking, now that I’ve achieved my livelong goal of making Pokémon plushies, what am I going to do with them all? I mean, you could just let them sit in your inventory, but where’s the fun in that? You have two real options; you could arrange them in your dedicated plush room, or you could gift them to the townies. There is a menu in the game where you can see requests from the NPCs for specific plushies. When you fulfill the townspeople’s requests, they sometimes give you furniture items such as couches or shelves that you can use to further decorate your plush room. As you can see, the ultimate goal is to decorate your plush room, which is honestly kind of silly, but okay.

Pokémon Friend definitely plays like a kid’s game, which it is, but it’s fun if you’re bored. Their main focus is definitely educating kids (they even have a Wii-Fit-style calendar to stamp in the game), and I respect it for that. I don’t know that I agree with how much they are charging for it, but I guess they have to make a profit somehow. I should note that, while there are a few DLCs for the game, I only have $10 “Basic Pack” that lets you change the settings so you can play as much as you want every day. Pokémon Friends is a cute game and, for the most part, is a stress-free experience. There are a few frustrating parts, but for what it is, it’s pretty good. I would recommend at least the free version of the game to any younger Pokémon fan or anyone who wants a new puzzle game to try.
Super Mario Galaxy: Does it Live Up to the Hype?

November 2nd, 2025

Super Mario Galaxy, a 3D platformer released for the Wii in 2007, is considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time. I was a little skeptical about the accuracy of the claim given that games like the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are given that same title. With the recent release of both Mario Galaxy and its sequel, Mario Galaxy 2, for the Nintendo Switch, I finally felt motivated to see for myself how great Mario Galaxy actually is. Being a broke teenager, though, I didn’t feel like buying my own copy of the game for the switch, so I played it on my dad’s Wii U instead. I’ll be honest, I can count on one hand the Mario games I’ve actually finished. I don’t know that I have enough experience to tell you what makes for a good Mario game. I do, however, have a lot of thoughts about Mario Galaxy after beating it for the first time.

Let me just start by saying, Mario Galaxy is not for the weak-willed. This game’s platforming was at times more frustrating than any other game I’ve played. Usually when I play games that were released before I was born, I wish I had played them sooner. That doesn’t really apply to this game because, frankly, I don’t know that I would have been able to get through Mario Galaxy before now. The game’s disjointed levels and weird gravity, while awesome, can make it kind of difficult to control Mario. I frequently found myself yelling “Come on!” or “Seriously?!” or hitting myself out of frustration while playing some of the levels; Mario just would not do what I wanted him to! In some ways, the game’s difficulty makes completing the levels really rewarding, so I can’t complain too much. The swimming, though, is just straight up annoying

Mario Galaxy’s atmosphere is definitely the highlight of the game. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing, and not just because it includes the Gusty Garden Galaxy theme (which is in my opinion overplayed). The world’s wonkiness is trying at times, but combined with the soundtrack, it creates a world that is so full of wonder. That being said, there are some times when the game feels a little empty, and if it weren’t for the soundtrack, I’m not sure the game would achieve the feeling it’s going for. A good example of this is Rosalina’s starship, which didn’t feel that lived in.

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS in the next paragraph! Skip this paragraph if you don’t want the ending of the game spoiled.

I’m just going to say it: the game’s story could be better. Everyone is going to be like “well Mario games don’t normally have much story,” and I know that, but this game specifically seems like it’s trying to be more story-driven. At the end of the game, although Mario defeats Bowser, it turns out Mario is too late and the lumas have to sacrifice themselves to reset the universe. Now, I’ll admit, this is a very cool concept, but the moment doesn’t really feel sad enough. The game doesn’t do a good job making the player feel attached to the world, so it’s hard to care when the universe is being destroyed. If the power star requirement to unlock the final level was a little bit higher, I think it would help with this issue. Furthermore, they emphasized the fact that the luma that was traveling with Mario decided to go reset the universe, which was really weird because I almost forgot that luma existed. I wish they would have had Mario talk to that luma throughout the game like he talked to Cappy in Odyssey. At the very least, they should have made a way bigger deal about the relationship between Mario and his luma because that could have been a really emotional moment. Also, am I the only one who dislikes Rosalina? I know she has the whole storybook thing, but she does literally nothing during events of the game. I find her kind of boring, too, but that may be a me problem.

Ultimately, I had a lot of fun with this game and I’m really glad I took the time to play it. If you can get past the rage-inducing parts, Mario Galaxy is pretty epic. I can see why people love this game so much. I know I have a lot of critiques, and let’s be real, Mario Galaxy definitely has flaws, but overall, the game is undeniably awesome. Mario Galaxy game is super imaginative and for the most part well made. I can’t wait to play Super Mario Galaxy 2!

8.5/10

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
My Thoughts on Nintendo Music

October 12th, 2025

It’s October already, and everyone is starting to settle into the endless grind of school. Everyone aside from me, that is. The longer the school year goes on, the more I tend to spend my time daydreaming about playing games instead of focusing on my classes. Getting my homework assignments done is a struggle, but something that I’ve found helps me cope is listening to video game soundtracks. While my eyes are stuck staring at the latest outline for history class I’m forced to write, at least my ears can escape to Hyrule or the Mushroom Kingdom. That’s where the Nintendo Music App comes in.

Around this time last year, Nintendo released a music app for mobile devices that allows you to listen to your favorite Nintendo game soundtracks on the go. For the most part, the app works similar to other music apps like Spotify or YouTube Music. The tracks are sorted out by game like songs in an album. Nintendo has some pre-made playlists on the app as well, though I don’t normally listen to them because they include tracks from games I don’t play like Fire Emblem or Splatoon. The app also includes some more unique features such as extended play, which allows you to extend certain tracks to specific lengths like thirty or sixty minutes.

The selection of games they’ve decided to add to the app so far is… interesting to say the least. They certainly have some pretty awesome soundtracks; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Pikmin 4 are just a few of my favorites. There are still so many games I’d like to see added, though, such as Nintendo Land or the Link’s Awakening Remake. What I really don’t understand is why Miitopia isn’t on there because they literally have a menu in the game that lets you listen to the various tracks. I just don’t see why Miitopia would be so hard to add. Also, why do they have StreetPass Mii Plaza but not the DLCs for the game like Flower Town or Slot Car Rivals? I digress; Nintendo seems to have been pretty good about adding soundtracks regularly, and I can only hope that they will eventually add the games I want to see.

I think Nintendo Music could be a really great thing. I’m glad Nintendo is working on making these tracks more accessible because Nintendo isn’t exactly lenient when it comes to people posting their music online. While you often can find certain tracks on YouTube, they get taken down fairly quickly. Some people hate Nintendo for doing this, but I actually think it’s not unreasonable for Nintendo to protect their IP. That being said, with Nintendo being so strict, we definitely needed an app like this. Currently, there aren’t that many different game soundtracks on the app, but if they continue to add more, I could see myself using this app all the time. It is important to mention that this app requires you to have a Nintendo Switch Online membership to access the music. I’m not going to recommend getting a membership just to use the app, but if you already are a member, it’s no extra charge, so there’s no reason not to give it a try.
My Hopes and Dreams for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

September 28th, 2025

Tomodachi Life, a game released for the 3DS in 2013, was one of my first favorite video games. When I was younger, like five or six years old, I would spend hours sitting with my 3DS, watching my Miis as they got married and competed in rap battles. The game was so chaotic and silly. I absolutely loved it! You can imagine how excited I was last March when I was at school and my dad sent me a text that just said “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream” and linked the announcement video. I couldn’t believe it—I hadn’t even known that there was a direct! And yet, I was also kind of worried. Nintendo hasn’t exactly had the best track record lately when it comes to making sequels that live up to the original game. I didn’t want them to ruin the image of yet another of my favorite games.

Just to address the elephant in the room, I am aware that technically Tomodachi Life was a sequel to Tomodachi Collection, which was only released in Japan. I, an American who does not speak Japanese, have not played Tomodachi Collection. So, just to be clear, when I say “original,” I mean Tomodachi Life, not Collection.

So far there have been two trailers for Living the Dream. From what I can tell, the game seems to be bringing back a lot of the key features from Tomodachi Life, which makes me happy. The initial reveal trailer is very brief and doesn’t show much; it’s mostly just short clips of Miis hanging around the island being goofy. I thought it was funny that the trailer shows Miis throwing items at each other angrily, I guess confirming that Mii arguments will be back. I’m not a big fan of how rectangular the new island is, but I’m going to try and let it grow on me.

The latest trailer shows more of the actual gameplay. Mii personalities, the food system, wacky dreams, and even Mii News have all been confirmed to be making a return. The Mii Maker seems to have a few new customization options, but for the most part it’s the same. It looks like Miis will not be living in an apartment building like they did in Tomodachi Life, instead living in small houses around the island. I’m interested to see how this will work when Miis get married or have kids. (They haven’t shown it yet, but I assume that Miis will be able to marry and have babies, as that was a very important aspect of the original.) From what I can tell, there seem to be shops and even a restaurant that I think will work like how they did in Tomodachi Life. I haven’t noticed a concert hall, but I would think (at least I really, really hope) that Miis will be able to perform songs in this game. Writing silly lyrics and watching your Miis sing in various styles of music was one of the funniest things about Tomodachi Life.

Unlike the original, this game seems to have Miis interacting with each other and things around the island in a more open-world sort of environment. In Tomodachi Life you could occasionally find that some of your Miis were building sandcastles on the beach, riding the rollercoaster at the amusement park, or something like that, but there was no real way for the player to interact with them outside of the apartments. Living the Dream’s trailer showed that Miis will be hanging out outside the houses, and players will be able to pick up Miis and drop them next to other Miis they want them to interact with. The way Miis meet and interact in this game will be much more controlled by the player, which could be a good or a bad thing (I really liked the randomness of the original), but I’m withholding judgement until I play it myself.

While the trailers look promising, there are still other things that haven’t been shown yet that I am really hoping to see. There were a lot of events around the island that happened at certain times of the day such as the magic show or frisbee at the park. I’m really hoping that those sort of events make a return. One of my favorites was Tomodachi Quest, a little RPG game starring your Miis that you could play once a day at the amusement park. I would love to see a sequel to Tomodachi Quest in this game. More than anything, though, I absolutely need to see rap battles back. I also had a lot of fun playing minigames with my Miis, and would love to be able to do that again in Living the Dream. As for new features, I really liked the makeup and wig system that was added to Miitopia when it was released on switch. While Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream seems to be adding hair customization similar to Miitopia’s wigs built into the Mii Maker, I would still love to see a streamlined way of transferring my Miis from Miitopia into Living the Dream.

I have very high expectations for this game, but I also have high hopes. Releasing on the Nintendo Switch, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream will reach a much bigger audience than the original did, so it better be great. I have my concerns, but for now I’ll just let myself ride the train of excitement. The game seems to still have that quirky Mii charm, and in my mind that is what made Tomodachi Life so special. The game comes out spring 2026, and I, for one, can’t wait! I think I’m really going to like this game. If the game does turn out to be disappointing though, I’ll be angry, but it’ll make for pretty great article.
The Latest Nintendo Direct was Surprisingly Decent

September 14th, 2025

My thoughts on the September 2025 Nintendo Direct

Correction: The original version of this article stated that Pokémon Legends Z-A releases in November. However, the game’s release date is actually October 16th.

I have to admit, I had kind of stopped watching Nintendo Directs. Normally it’s just a collection of trailers for indie games I would never play and then maybe some vague information about some Kirby game which I also probably will not play. (There was a Kirby game in this Direct, but I haven’t really played Kirby and therefore can’t really talk about it). On the rare occasion that there are a few noteworthy announcements, my dad typically texts me about them because, as much as he would like to deny it, he is a die-hard Nintendo fan. This past Friday, though, I was stuck in bed sick, and with nothing better to do, I decided to tune in.

Shigeru Miyamoto kicked off the Direct with some awesome announcements celebrating the Mario Brothers’ 40th Anniversary. The Super Mario Brothers Galaxy movie will be hitting theaters this spring, which I for one am super excited about. If, like me, you had a blast seeing Mario on the big screen two years ago, you’ll be glad to hear that the lead cast of the 2023 Super Mario Brothers movie will be returning for this sequel. While we wait, Nintendo will be releasing Mario Galaxy as well as Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Switch along with some Mario Galaxy themed amiibos. In addition, a new Mario Tennis game, a DLC for Mario Wonder, and even a brand-new Yoshi game were announced. Nintendo seems to be going all out for this anniversary, and while I’m not the biggest Mario fan, I’m pretty pumped.

After a couple of indie trailers, Nintendo shows us a new trailer for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a sequel to the 3DS life sim Tomodachi Life. The title has been confirmed to release this coming spring, and I really can’t wait to play it. The original Tomodachi Life was my absolute favorite game when I was little, and I have been waiting over a decade for this sequel. That being said, I’m not going to talk about my hopes for the game right now because I have so much to say that it really deserves its own article.

In further news, Virtual Boy games will be coming to the NSO Nintendo Classics emulators. Nintendo will be selling a separate Virtual Boy attachment that works with both the Switch and Switch 2. The Virtual Boy accessory will work by inserting your switch into the headset and will come in both a regular model and a cheaper cardboard model. (The cardboard model is basically the Labo VR Headset colored to match the regular Virtual Boy.) There is no set release date for the Virtual Boy accessory, but hopefully it will be coming soon. I personally have never played with the original Virtual Boy, but my dad assures me it was super cool.

Pokémon also got their fair share of announcements in this Direct, including more information about the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A. From what I can tell, Z-A seems like it will have the same open-air catching and battling that was introduced in Legends: Arceus. Unlike Arceus, the game will be taking place in the Kalos region, and in a much more modern setting. While the game seems a little too serious for my taste, I really enjoyed Arceus and will most likely give the game a try when it releases on October 16th. In a separate trailer, Nintendo also announced a DLC for Z-A, which is honestly strange to me considering that the game isn’t even out yet, but it’s still pretty exciting.

In addition to Legends Z-A, Nintendo announced a new Pokémon game geared toward more cozy gamers. Pokémon: Pokopia, releasing next year, will have players building, farming, and relaxing in this Pokémon themed life sim. Players will play as a ditto in a humanoid form, allowing them to talk with other Pokémon and even learn various Pokémon moves. The game so far seems like a cross between Animal Crossing and Minecraft, so it certainly won’t be the most original game, but I’m not complaining. My biggest issue with Pokopia is its silly name; it’s supposed to be a portmanteau of ‘Pokémon’ and ‘utopia’ but it kind of just sounds weird. Like why didn’t they call it “Ditto’s World” or even just “Pokémon Utopia”? Otherwise, though, it seems like a cute game and I’m very much looking forward to trying it.

While more minor, there are also a few other announcements worth mentioning. A DLC for Donkey Kong Bonanza hit Nintendo eShop shortly after the Direct and currently costs twenty US dollars. Honestly, the price seems like a lot considering that the base game is already seventy dollars and only came out a couple of months ago, but the DLC looks cool nonetheless. Furthermore, several games will be receiving Switch 2 Editions in the near future. These games include Stardew Valley and Human Fall Flat, the latter of which will receive five brand-new levels. There was also a new trailer for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, which I probably won’t play but is cool if you were a fan of Tears of the Kingdom.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this Direct. Although there were definitely trailers for silly indie games that I would never play, I’d consider that par for the course with Nintendo as of late. The Direct wasn’t the most ground-breaking thing, but there are plenty of games to look forward to in the coming months, and that makes me happy. My wallet, on the other hand, is not quite as enthused.
Mario Kart World Full Review

August 31st, 2025

For the first month or so following the Switch 2’s release, I was addicted to Mario Kart World. Whenever I tried to get other things done, I would always somehow fall back into playing more Mario Kart (not that I actually had anything important to do—I was on summer break). Of course, this game had some big shoes to fill after Mario Kart 8. I was really concerned when I heard that this game was going to have an open world. Normally “open world” is really just the developers’ code word for “we didn’t really work on gameplay or story because we spent all of our time on the world, and we’re hoping you don’t notice.” This game, though, for the most part pulls it off, and it’s awesome!

While the game plays relatively similar to Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart World has a very different vibe. While Mario Kart 8 had this clean, futuristic vibe, Mario Kart World has this more… dirty vibe? Maybe it’s western? I’m not totally sure how to describe it but it’s very cool. I was pretty sad that they removed the anti-gravity courses from 8, but the courses in World are still very cool, my favorite ones being Toad’s Factory and Faraway Oasis. The courses themselves aren’t as important in this game, though, because you’ll spend most of your time racing across the highways and off-roads between the various courses (contrary to popular belief, they are not called “intermissions”. All of the courses are connected in one big map, but this game doesn’t fall into most of the pitfalls that most “open world” games do because you still select the races from a menu and have to stay on the track (unless you are using the free roam mode, but I’ll talk about that later). Something that really adds to this game’s atmosphere is this game’s absolutely amazing soundtrack. It has some great originals, but also incorporates so many classic tunes from various Mario Brothers games (and even the Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker theme is included, which made me so happy). I cannot emphasize enough how awesome the music in this game sounds. The cherry on top for this game’s vibes is the amount of little details that they incorporated into the world—you can tell that they put a lot of effort into making this game feel lived in.

The bulk of the gameplay is the eight cups and eight knockout tour rallies. The cups are interesting because there are still four races per cup, but only the first race laps. The other races are driving from where you just were to another course and racing one lap around that course. I don’t know why Nintendo didn’t just have you lap around the courses considering there are other modes where you can experience driving between courses, but it’s not that big of a deal once you get used to reading Lakitu’s signs directing you where to go. The biggest issue with the cups, though, is the fact that there are twenty-four racers the entire time, which makes it absolutely chaotic. The knockout tour solves this problem in such a cool way, though. The knockout tour is a mode where players drive across the map, through several courses and highways, and periodically you’ll hit a gate where if you aren’t in a certain place or higher, you’ll be knocked out of the tour. At first it was annoying to be knocked out, but it is super cool when you do make it to the later parts and there aren’t as many racers. I personally love the knockout tour, but I feel like just because the knockout tour has twenty-four racers, they still could have left the grand prix as twelve racers and it would have felt better.

This game also has some great extra modes you can play. Not only does this game have the normal versus, time trial, and battle modes that we all know and love from Mario Kart 8, Nintendo also added a free roam mode, where you can freely drive around the map. Similar to flying around WuHu Island in Wii Sports Resort, there are little collectibles to find scattered around the world (and even some little challenges to complete). I really wish Nintendo would add a way to play free roam multiplayer because currently the only way to free roam with friends is to start a wireless lobby. Interestingly, the battle mode got a downgrade, now only including Balloon Battle and Coin Runners. Personally, I was a really big fan of Renegade Roundup from Mario Kart 8, so hopefully they add it in a later update.

There are also some interesting changes to how things work on the road. The biggest change they made is probably the rail-riding, which is admittedly super cool. Some people have complained that rail-riding would make the game too easy because you don’t have to steer, but honestly it’s so hard to get on the rails that it makes up for it. They’ve added the leaf item, which launches you into the air and is supposed to help you get onto the railings, but in reality rarely works and just slows you down. On the topic of items, I’ve noticed that they nerfed the lightning bolt, so now you don’t stay small for more than a second or two. I also really like how they made it easier to slipstream, especially with there twenty-four racers. Aside from the fact that Lakitu takes your items now when you fall, I’d consider most of the gameplay changes to be improvements.

In the end, the most important point is that Mario Kart World is just really fun to play. It sets itself apart from previous Mario Kart Games without losing the key things that make Mario Kart so great. The game isn’t perfect (they need to add 200cc at some point), but it’s pretty awesome, and I think it’s great continuation of the Mario Kart Series. Also, Ice-cream Toadette is adorable. You should buy it with your Switch 2, though, because eighty bucks is too much.

8.5/10

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
Tempopo: A Cute Collection of Puzzles

August 17th, 2025

It’s quirky and I’m here for it!

When my little sister asked me to help her with Tempopo, I was pleasantly surprised. Being a five-year-old, she decides which games to play solely on how cutesy the aesthetics are, regardless of the gameplay quality. Tempopo certainly has the cuteness down, but unlike Barbie: The Video Game or whatever my sister has been playing lately, Tempopo is surprisingly fun.

SPOILERS! Skip to the last paragraph if you don’t want this game spoiled for you.

Tempopo, developed by Witch Beam and released just last spring, is a cozy, musical puzzle game. Throughout the game, players make their way through rhythm-based puzzles, guiding small creatures called tempopo (get it? Like “tempo”) across various floating islands. The goal is to rescue the musical flowers that somehow got blown away when the main character, Hana, did a horrible job conducting them. Each level consists of an island made of blocks that you, the player, must put instructions on so that the tempopo successfully collect all the flowers and make it to the exit. At the end of the game it’s supposed to be that through completing the levels, Hana has learned how to give better instructions and can now conduct the flowers competently, which is a corny but fitting moral.

Though the levels are quite fun, the game’s pacing is a little… off. The levels do slowly get harder and more complex as you progress, but they all use the same set of mechanics that are introduced in the first few levels. The game splits the levels into seasons, but aside from being aesthetically themed around a different time of the year, the seasons don’t really have anything separating themselves from each other. The developers could have switched around the order of some of the islands and the game’s progression would still work fine. I think it could have been more interesting if they introduced a new type of instruction for the tempopo at the beginning of each season instead of using them all right away. That being said, it’s not that big of a deal if you’re good with the repetitive gameplay and just looking for a way to stretch your brain.

Overall, Tempopo isn’t the most ground-breaking game, but it knows what it wants to be, and I respect that. It has a cute atmosphere, and its simplicity allows you to play it and have fun without too much commitment. Every level is difficult enough that you feel accomplished when you finish it but easy enough that (most of the time) you won’t get frustrated. It kind of reminds me of those single player ThinkFun games that I used to love playing (and still occasionally do play). There are also some extra modes that the game has that are fun to mess around with. Tempopo’s not going to win game of the year, but I really enjoyed playing it. It has its minor flaws, but if you’re like me and into puzzles and cute, musical vibes, then it might just be the game for you.

7/10

Rating: 7 out of 10.
I Played the Link’s Awakening 2019 Switch Remake

August 3rd, 2025

…and it reminded me why I love Zelda.

Playing The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake for the Nintendo Switch was an absolute blast! After a week of being so obsessed with this game I practically couldn’t put my Switch down, I finally finished my first ever play through of this Legend of Zelda classic. I had bought the game about a year ago (leading up to Echoes of Wisdom’s release I think), but I had never actually gotten around to playing it. When I realized that the game had updates to run better on the Switch 2, though, it finally pushed me to make the wonderful decision to revisit this game. Now I only wish I had played it sooner, as I was seriously missing out.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The biggest reason I hadn’t finished Link’s Awakening before was that, especially in the first hour or so of gameplay, the game’s instructions on where to go aren’t exactly clear. Similar to many of the Zelda games from that era, the main way this game directs you is through long monologues given by an owl. This was an issue for me because I find that owl very annoying, so I often clicked through the owl’s dialogue without actually reading it. I found myself stopping by the telephone booth for hints way more frequently than I’d like to admit. Even those hints were vague, and there were a few times I had to turn to google. Like how am I supposed to know that I have to go talk to a witch and have her make me powder out of a mushroom to throw at a racoon who is blocking my way to a chest that I didn’t even know about? Looking back, if I had the patience to explore for a while, there would have been enough clues for me to figure that out. In a lot of ways, I think it’s cool that the game encourages you to solve puzzles and discover things for yourself. It just gets a little tiresome when I need to trade my Yoshi doll up to a magnifying glass, and I have no clue who to give the broom to.

The confusing parts were definitely worth getting through, though, because this game is just so fun to play. Koholint Island truly feels like one giant puzzle to be solved, and it’s awesome. I guess I’m biased because I’m a big fan of puzzle games, but I love how the overworld is so intricately laid out. The map itself isn’t really that big, but it feels huge because it’s so tightly packed with obstacles and secrets to uncover. There are certain areas of the map that you need specific items to access (yes, this game has real Zelda items, it’s fantastic), which would seem annoying to some, but I think it keeps the game interesting. Finding Animal Village for the first time, for instance, was very interesting (and that isn’t even the goofiest thing about this game). I also had so much fun traversing through this game’s dungeons, which were just as well thought out as the overworld. I’ll admit, the boss fights were on the easier side, but getting to the bosses is hard enough that it makes up for it. This game’s world just feels so alive, and it makes exploring it so immersive and, well, fun!

The game’s story was also surprisingly deep. I’m not normally a fan of “it was all a dream” endings, but this game handled it really well. It’s so bittersweet when you finish the game because, while you know you have to wake the Wind Fish, it’s sad to see this island you’ve become so attached to disappear. I went into this game knowing the general story, but it was different watching it play out for myself. Just as a side note, apparently there’s a secret ending that you only can get if you don’t die at all, which is crazy because this game is hard. Link’s Awakening is not the most story-driven game I’ve played, but the story made this already entertaining game come to life. That being said, I will never understand why the Wind Fish would willingly dream about that insufferable owl.

I think Grezzo did a fantastic job remaking this game! The updated soundtrack sounds absolutely amazing, the graphics are so clean, and the art style is so cute. They also added specific buttons for the sword, the shield, and the Pegasus Boots, which reduces the menu time switching between items and makes the gameplay a lot smoother. The biggest new feature added is the Dampe’s dungeon maker, which is pretty cool, although I didn’t spend that much time playing around with it.

There’s something so magical about Zelda games, and Link’s Awakening is no exception. I really enjoyed sitting in my bedroom, cuddled up with pillows and blankets, navigating through Koholint’s dungeons. There were frustrating parts for sure, and I died just under thirty times, but when I finished the game, I felt like I had really gone on an adventure, and it’s so refreshing to play a game like that. This game just has so much personality and such a great atmoshpere! From the world and dungeons to the characters and the soundtrack, this game is everything you could want from a 2D Zelda game. At the end of the game, the Wind Fish tells Link “SOMEDAY, THOU MAY RECALL THIS ISLAND; THAT MEMORY MAKES THE DREAM WORLD REAL.” I like to think that through writing this article, I’m helping the memory of Link’s Awakening live on.

9.5/10

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.
The Nintendo Switch 2: Terrible Name, Terrific Improvements

July 20th, 2025

Leading up to the Switch 2’s release, I was a little underwhelmed. The same can’t be said about my father, though, who drove out to target really early on the day of the release to buy one. As baffled by my dad’s excitement as I was, he was in the good company of over 3.5 million fans who bought their Switch 2 in the first four days. Switch 2’s are still sold out everywhere, but since my dad is subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online, a couple weeks ago we were alerted that there was one available to get. I was originally planning on waiting for a special edition Switch 2 (whenever they decide to release one), but with this offer I caved and used some of my savings to buy my own Switch 2. I’ve had my new Switch for about a week now, and I am surprised to say I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would.

The Switch 2 is undeniably nicer than the original Switch. I’m not one to care all that much about graphics and framerates. Nevertheless, I’ve been playing the Link’s Awakening remake, and I was impressed by how smoothly it runs on the Switch 2 compared to the original system. Nintendo’s Switch 2, though, doesn’t just have internal upgrades. One of the biggest complaints about the original Switch’s design was the size. I honestly didn’t see that as that big of a deal because my hands are on the smaller side, but when I first picked up my Switch 2, I was pleasantly surprised by how much better it felt in my hands. It still isn’t perfect, as the controllers are still too thin, and with the larger size it’s harder to take with you on the go. Although it has its drawbacks, the taller controllers allow for a beautiful handheld display. Another change is that the controllers click on to the screen magnetically instead of sliding from the top, which so far seems sturdier, but only time will tell. The kickstand is also much improved from the original Switch, and though I haven’t had many opportunities to use it, the new joy-con mouse feature is cool.

Nintendo is taking themselves a little too seriously with the grey color scheme, but I haven’t given up hope that they’ll come out with more colorful options eventually. I will say that I was very excited when I realized my old Switch joy-cons and pro controllers still work with the Switch 2, as I’ve spent too much money collecting cute looking ones to never use them again. I am still waiting on them adding more background themes instead of just “basic white” and “basic black” (I’ve always been confused by Nintendo using the word “basic” when there are only those two themes), but maybe that is just wishful thinking. I feel bad judging the system too harshly for silly things like aesthetics, but previous Nintendo consoles like the 3DS had different cool looking special editions and had various interesting background options, so it’s not completely unrealistic.

Though I think it should have been called the Super Nintendo Switch (or maybe the Switch Advance), I’m happy with my Switch 2. I’ll admit, the system is just an enhanced version of the Switch, so if you already have a Switch 1 and you’re not dying to play Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza, the upgrade isn’t truly necessary… but boy is it nice. While I definitely have my reservations about the price, in the end I’m glad I got my own Switch 2. However, if my sticks start drifting, my opinion may not remain so positive.