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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: October 09, 2025, 04:58:17 pm »

11. Super Mario Galaxy [Nintendo Switch]

I already beat Super Mario Galaxy on Wii a long time ago, but now that Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 is out on Nintendo Switch, I decided to buy it and replay it (and finally beat Super Mario Galaxy 2, which I haven't beaten before, but that's next up.)

Super Mario Galaxy...is a game I cannot give an unbiased review of. This game is way too close to my heart. I'll be honest: I cried so many times while replaying this game. And I'm not someone that cries easily, at all, but this game just gets it out of me.

I grew up on Mario games, including Super Mario Galaxy, and to my childhood self, this game was magical. Genuinely magical, like nothing else was. I think many of us know that feeling, that one childhood world that spoke to our imagination, our emotion, in such a deep and special way. I think this game is to me what some Disney films seem to be to many others.

This game knows how to trigger that feeling too. I think everyone here knows about the soundtrack. The orchestral score is still one of the absolute best soundtracks in gaming history, and many songs still give me shivers whenever I hear them. The worlds are brimming with colour, imagination, joy. And I just need to mention Rosalina's Storybook....my god.....every new chapter I unlocked made me break down a little and cry. I'm not exaggerating. I can't even describe it, it just hits me in the core of my heart like nothing else. It makes me want to hug my own mom or dad and bawl my eyes out.

I know I'm just gushing, but I'm sorry. These characters and this world just mean so much to me. And Super Mario Galaxy is the absolute pinnacle of why that is. Gosh I'm getting teary-eyed again as I'm writing this. It was incredible to re-experience this title after such a long time. This is one of those games I will genuinely cherish the memories of. There's a reason that when earlier this year, when I got the opportunity to meet Charles Martinet, I asked him to sign my original childhood copy of Super Mario Galaxy. It has a place in my heart that it will never lose.

Phew...and with that, on to Super Mario Galaxy 2!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: September 08, 2025, 06:43:33 pm »

10. En Garde! [PC/Steam Deck]



And that makes ten. En Garde! is a game that sparked my interest from the moment I first heard about it. Taking place in 17th century Spain, you play as Adalia de Volador, a masterful swordswoman. The game aims to emulate the feeling of Zorro-style fight scenes (at least I assume, I've never seen a Zorro movie, but that's the first word that comes to my mind). So to fight your opponents, yes you will need to use your fencing skills, but that alone won't cut it. The key to victory is in using your surroundings. Grabbing random stuff and throwing it at people, kicking them down the stairs, kicking them into pillars to drop the pots on top on their heads, throwing torches to light explosives, swinging across rooms to escape a tight spot, et cetera. All spiced up by light-hearted, silly, Spanish-accented banter by the characters.

The combat flow does take a bit to get used to, because it's so different from any other third-person brawler. You really need to change how you think and approach fights: just going for brute force will get you killed. You need to stay on your feet, find openings to use what you have available, and find ways to split opponents up and drain their defense so you can damage them.

Overall, I had fun with it! I did stumble through it, but that's normal for any first playthrough of a new action game, right? Thankfully the checkpoint system is more than fair, and this game is clearly designed to be played repeatedly and improve your skills in. Especially considering how short it is: it only took me about 4-5 hours to beat. The game is available on GOG and Steam (from what I can see). If you find it on sale, I think it's worth trying out.

(Oh, and on technical performance: I played the DirectX 12 version on Steam Deck. The framerate was a bit choppy which did cause me to slip up, but after I dropped all graphic settings one level, it ran perfectly fine and still looked good to me.)

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: August 18, 2025, 07:27:13 pm »

9. Metroid Dread (second playthrough)

First replay of the year. I first beat this game when it came out, but I hadn't played it since. I had been wanting to for ages though, and now felt right. I've finished playing all the 2D Metroids since then (well, except NES but still), and I wanted to replay Dread to see whether it would still hold up as my favourite.
And yes, I still think it does. This game is absolutely fantastic. Everything flows together so beautifully. Exploring and finding new paths is a joy, the boss fights are great, it just feels good to slowly grow more powerful as the game goes on. I'm quite tired right now so maybe I'm struggling a tad with finding the right words, but Metroid Dread is still every bit as good as it was when I first played it. I was a tad doubtful at the beginning as there were a few things irking me, but the rest of the game more than made up for it. In terms of pure gameplay feel, Metroid Dread is unmatched amongst the 2D Metroids if you ask me. And some of the moments late in the game made me shout or gasp (in a good way). If you haven't played it yet, I cannot recommend it enough.

And I suppose that makes my definitive 2D Metroid tier list:

• Metroid Dread
• Super Metroid
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• Metroid Fusion
• Metroid Zero Mission
• Metroid II: Return of Samus
• Unplayed and thus unranked: Metroid (NES)

(not ranking the Prime games amongst these because they are so different in style)

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General / Re: August 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: August 05, 2025, 02:52:33 pm »

I'm very happy with this one



The physical limited edition of Murder by Numbers for Nintendo Switch. One of the only 2000 that were made. This game is in my top 5 favourites of all time, but until now I only had it digitally. So it's really sick to now have the physical version on my shelf too!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: August 01, 2025, 08:22:42 pm »

8. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Finally beat this game. And goddamn, it was beyond amazing. We all know how acclaimed and beloved the Metroid Prime trilogy is. And this game truly lives up to that reputation.

This was honestly a bit of an emotional one for me too. I bought Metroid Prime 3 as a kid, all the way back during the Wii era, as probably my first Metroid game. Back then I tried to play it, but it was too difficult to figure out for kid me and I gave up on it. Years later, I tried again, and gave up a second time. But since then, I became a true Metroid fan. Easy top 5 favourite gaming franchises, probably top 3. I've beaten most of the other games at this point, and not counting the original NES Metroid, Federation Force, Pinball and Hunters (which I may still try again at some point), this was the one Metroid game I still had to conquer (especially before Prime 4 comes out). And now I tried it again. With the same disc, on the exact same Wii I've been using since I was a kid. And this time, like Prime Remastered before, it completely clicked with me and I had a fantastic time from start to end. But something just felt special about this one in particular, finally playing and conquering this incredible game and the original end to the trilogy, while also hearing those familiar Wii disc reader sounds I've heard ever since my very first experience with this franchise. I don't know, in an odd way it felt like some form of closure of something that had been open for over 15 years? I don't know, it just felt special all right? I can be emotionally sappy if I want to sometimes.

So yeah, needless to say, I love this game. One of my favourites on the Wii no doubt. If you're even vaguely interested in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond later this year and you haven't played through the original trilogy yet, I can very highly recommend them. (Metroid Prime Remastered on Nintendo Switch is incredible too fyi).

(Also, for those worried about that: I had no issues at all with the motion controls! Felt very natural and worked flawlessly.)

Already know what I'm gonna do next: play a game I've already beaten before. May not be entirely what this challenge is for, but I've only played through Metroid Dread once when it came out and I've played through all the other 2D Metroids again since then. I want to play through Dread one more time, to once and for all figure out what my favourite Metroid game of all time is. (Spoiler: it's probably going to be either Super Metroid or Metroid Dread. Almost certainly Dread.).

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: July 22, 2025, 09:18:03 pm »

7. Urban Flow



I started this game years ago and chipped away on it for a bit every couple of months. Now, I finally properly sat down, beat the last 30 or so levels, and beat it!

Urban Flow is a game I find hard to pin a genre to. Puzzle? Strategy? Well, best I can describe it is a traffic controller simulator, because that's what it is. There are a bunch of roads (often ones designed by some complete idiot) and the roads have a bunch of cars on them (with more idiots in them). You control all the traffic lights and your goal is to let cars through safely by switching the lights . Let enough cars through without letting too many of them crash, and you beat the level.

It's a pretty simple setup. I'm sure you can tell from a screenshot how it works, but it's pretty fun and addictive to play. It's an easy game to chill back with a bit. It can require a decent amount of multitasking in some levels, but I never found it stressful to play. And while the 3-star rankings can pose a fair challenge, beating all the levels really isn't too hard with a few tries. There's 100 levels, not counting DLC, so there's enough to keep you busy for a while.The game is available on Switch and PC (shockingly not on mobile, I legitimately thought this was a mobile port at first, but oh well). I can definitely recommend it as a fun game to pick up and play here and there on a portable device.

Also, for the colorblind among you: the game has alternate designs for the traffic lights that add a hand symbol when the light is red, so even if you can't see the difference between red and green, this game has options for you!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: July 19, 2025, 09:47:24 pm »

6. Toree 3D

Toree 3D is a retro 3D platformer that hearkens back to the early days of the genre. It's also 99 cents. That's important to frame what kind of game we're talking about.

The game is really simple. You can run, use one button to jump and double jump, and hold down another to dash. That's it. Well, and you control the camera with the right stick, because it does not move on its own at all (really going for that retro vibe). With those moves, you simply try to get to the end of the level. There's 13 levels total: 9 main ones and 4 bonus ones. Everything in the game, I would probably describe as all right. You can finish it in half an hour, but the game was also clearly designed for you to try to beat the levels as fast as possible and get the highest ranking. Plus, it's 99 cents. I cannot overstate that. At that price, I couldn't possibly complain even if I wanted to. I can think of many worse ways to spend 99 cents. So if you have a little cash left to burn on your Nintendo eShop or Steam account, I mean, it's 99 cents. It beats letting that money sit there.

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General / Re: July 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: July 18, 2025, 10:22:57 am »

I was at a thrift store that apparently just sells all their Wii games for € 3,40. So I snagged Bomberman Land Wii, Mario Party 9 (Nintendo Selects edition) and Rayman Origins.

They had some other absolute steals for that price though, even including games like Super Paper Mario, Donkey Kong Country Returns, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy 2. I was dumbfounded. I already own all of those games, but someone else did pick them up. Hope he enjoys them

Apart from those three games I also picked up FIFA 11 for the PS2 because it was dirt cheap and, despite owning 885 games at this point (including digital games but excluding itch.io), I somehow didn't own a FIFA game yet. And also got a brand new release that came out today: Shadow Labyrinth! The trailers looked right up my alley, so I'm excited to try that one.

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General / Re: July 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: July 02, 2025, 07:33:10 pm »

I went to the thrift store to buy some new furniture. I failed.


(Sorry for the glare, it's the best I could do)

Ignoring the dvd's and cd's at the top, I got:

• Bejeweled Twist (PC)
• Fishdom 2 (PC)
• Angry Birds (PC)
• Angry Birds: Space (PC)
• Noddy (PC)
• Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (PC)
• Darksiders (PC)
• Tomb Raider: Legend (PC)
• EyeToy: Play 2 (PS2)
• SEGA: Superstars (PS2)
• De Wereld Draait Door DVD-Spel (DVD Game)

Excluding Sega Superstars and Noddy, I didn't even particularly want any of these. They just had a LOT of cd-roms, and I was in a buying mood.

Also, for the last one, I actually didn't realise it was a DVD game rather than a PC game until I got home, because it was on the shelf with all the other PC games. But I had to buy it out of sheer curiosity. "De Wereld Draait Door" ("The World Keeps Turning", although "draait door" is also a Dutch term for "going crazy") was an extremely successful Dutch public television show. And it was...a talkshow. A latenight talkshow with the host at a table, talking to guests like media people and politicians. I have NO idea how you can turn that into a video game (or, well, DVD game I guess), but I just had to find out. Curious to try it.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 23, 2025, 10:11:59 pm »

5. Mario Kart World

Ah, Mario Kart. That raises the eternal question of "When can you consider this game beaten?" After beating all Grand Prix cups? After all Knockout Tour cups? After completing the Free Roam mode?

Well, I've now gotten gold trophies and at least a star ranking on all Grand Prix cups and Knockout Tour cups on 150cc. Doing that for Grand Prix landed me the credits too. Furthermore, Free Roam has like 750 or something things to find, which feels a lot more like a "completed" thing than a "beaten" thing, plus on HowLongToBeat the average beat time is 3,5 hours and there's NO WAY that's with Free Roam included, so with what I have done thus far I think I can consider it beaten.

I'm having fun with this game! But that's no surprise, it's Mario Kart. It's definitely a major shake-up of the formula though, with twice the amount of racers on the track, much larger and more open tracks, and gameplay that seems to be more about how you find your way around the tracks than the tracks themselves. Shaking up the formula makes sense, it would've been really hard to improve on what Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did. But is World better? I wouldn't call it better or worse per se, moreso just different.

Races are of course great fun, and feel like they have a different kind of chaos going on with the more open space and large amount of items flying around. Knockout Tour is really fun to play. I haven't had much time with the Free Roam mode yet, but I'm not sure that'll be my thing anyway. But that's a personal taste thing.

But the main thing that I think feels different in World compared to 8 is the philosophy in track design. World's tracks aren't just bigger and more open. You're actively encouraged to try to find shortcuts everywhere. By grinding on rails and tricking off of them, you can pull off some downright insane shortcuts if you've got the skill. Even basic shortcuts take some genuine technique to pull off. The thing with this, for me, is that often the alternate tracks or optimal paths aren't immediately obvious. Often they're flat-out hidden. And I don't know how I feel about that. I'm assuming that the idea is that you play Free Roam, try and look for shortcuts, and then implement them in your regular races. But I just feel like an idiot and like I'm missing stuff in the races. In Mario Kart 8, you can see just about every bit of road coming up ahead in front of you. How you handle that is all about your fundamental basic driving skills. But with hidden paths, it becomes more about how much time you've put into experimenting and how much you can remember of that. The shortcuts are too hidden to always be intuitive. You can still race over the standard road just fine of course, but if you only do that, tracks can feel barren, I agree, especially compared to 8's incredible track designs.

At the end of the day though, this is still Mario Kart. It's still well put together, colourful, exciting and fun, both solo and of course especially in multiplayer. The day after this game and the Switch 2 came out, I went to a gamer hangout space, and we had great fun with the game. So there's your endorsement for ya.

Edit: Also, I gotta add, this game's Rainbow Road may be one of the best and most exhilerating Rainbow Roads in the entire franchise.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 04, 2025, 06:43:12 pm »

4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Booster Course Pass (DLC) [Nintendo Switch]

I always struggle a bit with when DLC is substantial enough to be considered a separate entry. After all, some DLCs are miniscule side things, while others are substantial enough to be entirely separate games. The Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which gets you all the DLC, essentially doubles the amount of content in the game though, and I think that's enough for it to get its own entry.

I recently subscribed to the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, and that also nets you access to this DLC. I've now beaten all of the 12 additional Grand Prix on 200cc (the highest difficulty), all with at least a 1-star rank. I think that counts as beating it (plus, beating all of it got me a credits sequence, so there). What can I say? It's more Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which is a ton of fun. I really enjoyed the tracks, particularly of course my childhood favourites that returned like Waluigi Pinball and Wii Rainbow Road. Having new characters like Pauline is of course fun too. But it's literally just more Mario Kart 8. Mario Kart 8 is fantastic, and after not having played it for a while it was nice to return to it, but whether or not you'll like this is entirely dependent on how you feel about Mario Kart 8. If you like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe a lot though, and you want something to get you back into it, this DLC is well worth checking out.

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General / Re: June 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: June 03, 2025, 04:57:13 pm »

Preordered Mario Kart World at a game store, and decided to do some retro shopping while I was at it.

• PS2 EyeToy (Namtai version)
• EyeToy: Play (PS2)
• EyeToy: AntiGrav (PS2)
• Scaler (PS2)
• 1080° Snowboarding (N64)
• Het Huis Anubis: De Donkere Strijd (NDS)
• Ninjabread Man (Wii)
• Boogie (Wii)

In case you're wondering: the DS game is based on a Dutch-Belgian teenage tv series that was massively popular in the mid-to-late 2000s (or, well, this one is based on its spinoff continuation, but still). Glad to own Ninjabread Man, the classic "worst Wii game of all time" (it's not, that's Studio 100 Speeleiland if you ask me, but still). I actually had 1080° Snowboarding in my house when I was a little little kid, so it's really neat to own it again. Scaler looked like a fun 3D platformer on YouTube, and I've been curious about EyeToy: AntiGrav ever since I saw it in Caddicarus's EyeToy video on YouTube. Glad to add all of these to my shelf!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: May 22, 2025, 06:50:44 pm »

3. Miraculous: Paris Under Siege [PC/Steam Deck]

Gosh, only beaten 3 games thus far this year, and game number 3 is a licensed kids game. Not good for my #gamerimage. But whatever, here we go.

Miraculous: Paris Under Siege is the second game (excluding mobile games) based on the popular animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, commonly referred to as Miraculous Ladybug. I played the first game, Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx last year, and I can say without a doubt that Paris Under Siege is a major improvement over the original. However, considering I thought the original game was god awful, that doesn't really say much.

Paris Under Siege is half platformer, half beat-'em-up, similar to the first game. You walk around, fight waves of enemies and traverse various platforming challenges. Compared to the first game, significant improvements have been made. The one that sticks out right away: we actually get control of the camera this time. That alone helps a lot. The game feels a bit snappier overall too. Combat actually feels like it has a bit of a punch to it (not much, but it's at least there). I at least feel like I'm controlling the characters, rather than fighting the controls. Platforming has gotten better too, with some of it actually being decently fun. A standout inclusion are the sections where you can zip around levels via grapple points. It's nothing special, completely linear, but it does feel like the movement of the show and feels pretty good to pull off. I'm also really glad the game is finally fully voiced. For a game based on an animated series, especially one aimed at kids, that's really a requirement if you ask me.

That doesn't mean the game is perfect though. I would've appreciated a lock-on. The game is simple enough that it's not a necessity, but it would've made reorienting myself towards the enemies in the middle of fights a bit easier. I think the simplicity is one of the things that's holding the game back though. The problem is not that it's repetitive, but that it's monotonous. When it comes to combat, the game really is just a simple button masher. I don't mind that the game is easy, that's to be expected for a kids game, but I find the combat doesn't hold my interest. Not all fights are mandatory, and there were moments where I found myself just running past the enemies, not feeling like fighting. It's just not really that engaging nor satisfying to play, and being a kids game is no excuse: there absolutely are simple kid-friendly beat-'em-up/platformers out there that do full engage even adult players.

In terms of performance, I played Rise of the Sphinx on Switch, and it ran downright horribly on there. I'd say it was poorly optimized, but that would mean you tried to optimize it at all. I played Paris Under Siege on the Steam Deck though, and it ran perfectly fine on there. Excluding one section in one level where the framerate absolutely tanked for some reason, it ran just fine as far as I could tell. (Just make sure you use GE-Proton for the compatibility layer to fix some video playback issues). I think the bigger problem remaining is the lack of polish. The game does feel a little rough around the edges in many ways, like developers weren't granted the time and resources to properly smooth everything out before release. It's perfectly playable, nothing game-breaking, but you can feel it as you play (or probably even as you watch a trailer).

Overall, I'd say this game is mediocre to average. There's some fun to be had here. For a kid who's a fan of Miraculous, I think they could get some enjoyment out of this. Don't get it at full price, it's not worth that, but at a discount, you could do worse. But for anyone else, there isn't much here you won't find done better elsewhere. Too bad. I'm still a big fan of the animated series, which does lend itself insanely well to a game of this style. I hold out hope that one day we'll get that genuinely great Miraculous game that the series deserves.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: April 27, 2025, 07:09:27 pm »

2. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse [3DS]

All right! Almost May and that's game number......two. Yeahh, I'm not gonna get a high tally this year. I've been so busy with work and activism this year that I've barely had time to play games. But I did now finally make some time and play through Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, and I'm glad I did. It's a fun game!

This is a classic Metroidvania. I found it fun to go through! It controls buttery smooth, and Shantae's slick attacks and movements feel great to pull off. The world never felt like a drag to go through. I usually had a decent idea of where to go next, though at some points I will say I found it a bit too cryptic. There were a few points where I'm not sure I would've found something without a guide, in part because there was seemingly no indication something essential was there, and I'm not a big fan of that. I know that's par for the course with Metroidvanias, but still. Something newer titles like Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread handle better, I suppose. I will also admit I checked a guide probably a bit more often than I needed to, but whatever, I still had fun playing through the levels!

The story was a bit hard to follow and the characters make stupid choices at times, but it helps they're likeable and colourful. I don't know what it is, but there's something about Shantae as a character that just keeps her sticking around in my head. She's memorable and fun!

Also, I played this on 3DS, which I've had it on for years. Instant item access on the touch screen was handy, and with how easy the 3DS still is to bring along, it was easy to play a little bit on the train from work every day. Performed flawlessly, for those who care, but I wouldn't expect less for a 2D pixel-art platformer.

Overall, I recommend it! I'm not sure whether I like it better than Half-Genie Hero or not, because I did beat that one too, but I honestly don't remember that much about it. Guess we'll see how much staying power this game will have in my mind. Either way, if you're looking for a fun upbeat Metroidvania, I'd say this game is worth a look.

No idea how actively I'll be gaming from here. I do want to beat Metroid Prime 3: Corruption before Metroid Prime 4: Beyond comes out, so I guess we'll see.

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General / Re: March 2025 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: March 02, 2025, 02:39:09 pm »

Also, the keepcase itself is a part of a larger package that includes a microphone.[/font]

Oh dang, I didn't even think of that, but I suppose that does make sense. Now I do kinda want the big box, gonna see what I can find about that. Thanks for all the info!