A Bunch of Mini Reviews! Part 2

(Note: Blogger is glitching out on me because this post is so long. I have to split it up into two because it's getting late and I don't have to time to research how to fix it. Sorry about that.)

Super Mario 3D Land

source

One of the first games I got for Wii U was Super Mario 3D World, and I absolutely love that game to pieces. It feels like a sequel to the two Super Mario Galaxies with elements of the Super Mario Bros. series mixed in. But before that game was around, there was Super Mario 3D Land.

The plot is simple enough: outside Peach's castle grows the Tail Tree, whose leaves give special powers. One night, a fierce wind blows them all off, and Mario awakes to find a letter showing that Peach has once again been captured by Bowser. Like the good boyfriend he is, Mario heads off immediately to save his damsel-in-distress.

A bright and colorful set of worlds await you as you venture out on your rescue mission. There aren't a whole lot of abilities here, sadly. You mostly get Fire Flowers and Tanooki suits (from what I've played, at least). And while it's not as good as it's predecessors or successor, it's still a good purchase. Who knows, the game might just surprise me by the time I reach the end.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

source

Yep, this one's an oldie. But I had heard great things about it, and I enjoyed the follow-up, A Link Between Worlds, immensely. As in, it was one of my all-time favorite Zelda games. I had high hopes for this game, and I haven't been disappointed thus far.

Hyrule has been beset by an evil wizard named Agahnim, who has been kidnapping young maidens. Link is awoken by Zelda calling out to him telepathically one night. He discovers his uncle leaving their home armed. Though told to stay, Link follows his uncle and finds him dying in Hyrule Castle. Link's uncle passes on the duty of protecting Zelda with his final breaths. It's up to Link to dig deeper into Agahnim's schemes and save Hyrule.

The graphics are simple, as this game is the third in the Zelda franchise, but appealing. I love seeing how A Link Between Worlds makes many call-backs to this game. It's well worth the $5 I spent on the Nintendo eShop. If you want to play a classic game for a change, I suggest this one. It's probably the hardest Legend of Zelda game I've played, seeing as I died three or four times on the first temple. That, or I'm not as good a gamer as I like to think.

LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins

source

I like my LEGO games, okay? They're classics for me. I grew up with the PS2, playing the Indiana Jones and Star Wars LEGO games, so it makes sense that I love them so much now. LEGO City Undercover is undoubtedly my favorite game they've made so far. I hoped this game would be just as good.

A prequel to the abovementioned game, it follows rookie cop Chase McCain as he climbs up the police ladder and becomes a (somewhat good) detective. He also hopes to put LEGO City's most dangerous criminal, Rex Fury, behind bars. I haven't played far enough to know all the details.

The game isn't quite as good as I hoped. After all, the Wii U is a more powerful system with greater capabilities. In this game, voice acting is only present in cutscenes, dense fog hides buildings that are being rendered, and the graphics aren't nearly what they were in the Wii U game. Still, it's enjoyable enough to say that, if you want background info to the first game, you should buy it.

Kirby's Blowout Blast

source

And I like Kirby too, so don't judge. His games are a lot of fun to play, and this one looked to be that way too! The game has no storyline. It's just an action/puzzle sort of game where Kirby consumes enemies and spits 'em out to hit other enemies and get points. Sound boring? It's not.

It actually is challenging to get gold on all the levels, especially the hard versions of them. The controls are simple and easy to get used to, sure, but actually racking up those points can be difficult. I don't know how many levels there are in total, so I won't yet say whether or not it was worth the $10 I spent on it. But so far, I've been enjoying it. It's a very different Kirby game, which counts for something.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

source

Finally, on the last one! New Super Mario Bros. Wii was actually one of the first Mario games I ever played, so it's kinda nostalgic for me. I've also played New Super Mario Bros., which was for the DS and was a mixture of really easy and somewhat hard levels. I sorta knew what to expect from this installment of the series.

As usual, the plot isn't terribly thick. Mario is out for a stroll when Bowser comes along on one of his flying, creepy clown things. Bowser laughs and flies away, Mario hot on his tail. But the mustachioed plumber isn't fast enough to stop the Koopa King from assaulting the castle and--you guessed it--nabbing Peach on his way out. Mario is on another grand adventure, it seems.

I've only played two levels of this game so far, which means I can't say a whole lot. At first, the levels looked a lot like the ones in the Wii game, which had me worried that this game wasn't going to be creative. Thankfully, they weren't carbon copies, so I guess I'll see how the rest of the game turns out.

And I'm finally done! My apologies for such a long and late (not to mention weirdly split) post. Are any of these games ones you want to play? Have any recommendations for me? Let's chat about video games and nerd out for a while!