The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap Review

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA)

Now, here is an interesting Zelda game for me to cover. Most people believe this to be my favorite Zelda game and sometimes think this is my favorite game of all time. Despite these ideas, I will - as always - keep this review as unbiased as possible.

I remember getting this game, accidentally, right after it came out. My family was going on a Beach trip, and I begged my mom if I could buy a new game for the ride. My mom ok’d the request and gave me some spending money. Now, I had yet to buy the Oracle Zelda games and was planning on buying those. However, when I walked into EB games I saw the displays for a new handheld Zelda title: Minish Cap. Without a second thought, I bought the game and hurried on my little way. Fast forward about 6 years, and with my 5th time of finishing the game I figured I would finally break it down into if it is actually good or not.

The game opens up with a back story about the Picori Sword and the original hero who had wielded the legendary blade. Afterwards, Princess Zelda is shown walking in the woods to Link’s house. Link’s grandfather, Smith, greets the Princess and tells Link to wake up. It is found out that Zelda has snuck out of the castle because she wanted to go to the Picori festival with Link (because meeting Link at the Town gates was too boring?), and that the festival only occurs every 100 years when the door to the Picori realm opens. Link then escorts her Highness to town, where she acts like a hyperactive monkey that Link must track down and follow.

After everything is said and done at the festival, Zelda and Link attend the ceremony for the winner of the sword fighting tournament earlier in the day. The winner of the tournament is allowed to TOUCH the legendary Picori blade; which seems like a lame prize and an obvious way of getting something bad to happen. The winner of the tournament is none other than a pale-skinned, purple haired, red eyed boy dressed in dark colours named Vaati. It’s as if the boy could have been wearing a sign that read “I’M AM A BAD GUY!” and Hyrule’s guards still would not have noticed. Upon giving his greeting of flinging a bunch of guards off the screen, breaking the Picori sword and unleashing hoards of enemies onto the land, Vaati turns Princess Zelda to stone and disappears in search of something called the “Light Force”. Link is then tasked with finding the Minish (aka the Picori) so that the sword can be fixed and Hyrule returned to normal.

The gameplay of Minish Cap is basically the same as every other 2D Zelda game. You have 2 buttons (A and B) to select and use items; with A also being used to talk to people. The directional pad is used to move things and control Link. L is used to fuse Kinstones (a new addition in Minish Cap) and R is used to perform actions; like grabbing objects. You can also use Select to talk to your new sidekick, Ezlo, for information about where to go next.
A few of the items in Minish cap are the same as other games but it also offers a variety of new things as well. Your biggest new asset is the White Sword (later Four Sword) which over the course of the game allows you to split Link into multiple beings. As far as inventory items, along with regular bombs, later in the game you are given the option of using Remote bombs; bombs that explode only when you want them. Working similar to the Remote Bombs, you can also get a Magical Boomerang; which is probably the precursor to the controls of the normal boomerang in later handheld Zelda titles. You can also obtain a Gust Jar which sucks and blows air, the Cane of Pacci which allows you to flip things over (because Link is apparently a weakling), the Mole Mitts which can be used to dig through the ground, and Roc’s Cape which gives you the ability to glide through the air. Other than that, you still have the classics: the bow, the light arrows, bombs, boomerang, mirror shield, lantern; and some older classics like the Pegasus Boots and Flippers.

Along with all of these items, there are also new items called Kinstones. Aside from small bits in the main story, Kinstones are mainly used in side quests. There are different coloured and different sized Kinstones that each correspond to particular randomized people in the game. Once you find the person, and fuse the stones together, good things are said to occur. This can range from revealing treasure chests to summoning golden enemies to making beanstalks grow to creating… butterflies? However, because most of the Kinstone requirements are randomized, there is a very big chance that you will end up with a lot of the little things left over at the end of the game. Aside from the Kinstones, you may also find Seashells which can be traded in the game for figurines of characters in the game (which seems a little creepy if you ask me).

The graphics of Minish Cap are styled after the Cel-Shaded styling of other Zelda titles. The 2D sprites are akin to those in the Four Sword titles; as which makes sense because of all of the games involving Vaati in some way or another. Despite that, every time I play Minish Cap I am constantly reminded of A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo, and it is not only the graphics that leave this impression on me. About half of the soundtrack to Minish Cap sounds like it was remixed from past Zelda titles; mainly A Link to the Past. However, there are enough new songs mixed into the game as well. Even if I don’t remember every little song in the game, there are particular ones that stick out for being good on their own.

Overall, the game is very good and is better than a lot of other Zelda titles. As far as it being the best Zelda title, I must disagree to this claim. The game has a little bit of Twilight Princess Syndrome where you don’t feel like the world is actually in danger. You do, however, help people here and there, but the world as a whole didn’t feel 100% threatened. Yes, Vaati is a strong villain (and all of this is reversed later when he becomes a pimp in other titles) but he felt more like a jerk than anything else. Another strike against Minish Cap is the abrupt (and I mean ABRUPT) ending. However, as I have stated before, if the gameplay of a game is solid then I can normally overlook most other features of the game.

Afterall, that is the magic of a game versus other media; because a game can have a great story, but if it isn’t playable then what’s the point?

Katamari Damacy (PS2) Review

Katamari Damacy (PS2)

There are certain games where someone will crack a joke or make a remark about how the developers of said game had to be on some kind of drugs to come up with the idea for that game. Katamari Damacy left me in a similar mentality and speechless upon seeing the opening cut scene. To be honest, I am quite surprised that this was localized outside of Japan, but I am thankful that someone decided to take a chance with it.

Originally when I was told of the “plot” of Katamari Damacy, my then-14 year old self thought it was stupid… I guess that just goes to show how idiotic teenagers can think. The plot of Katamari Damacy is that the King of All Cosmos has gone and destroyed all of the stars in the sky… OH NO! The King, who seems to constantly refer to himself as “We”, is so kind as to leave the job of fixing the universe to you, The Prince (or one of his cousins, if you choose to play as one of them). Well, how exactly are you going to fix the sky? By going to Earth and rolling up objects into big balls to turn into stars of course!

The gameplay of Katamari Damacy took me a little bit to grasp. Instead of using just using 1 button or 1 joystick to control things, it doubles the controls. To roll your Katamari you take use of BOTH analog sticks. Push both of them forward to roll forward, push back to roll backwards, push both left and push both right to roll to the sides. Pushing both joysticks down (R3) will cause you to do a 180 degree turn, and rapidly pushing opposite directions on each joystick will cause you to do a dash. This might not sound hard but things in this game can turn really fast really quick!

Not counting constellations or side missions, this game has 9 main levels. In each level, the King of All Cosmos demands that you reach a certain goal. Sometimes the requests are just "Reach X amount in size in X amount of time!" but then you can get some request like "Pick up ONLY 1 Bear!" You start the game rolling up small things... paper clips... erasers... birds... However, during the course of the game you can manage to get your Katamari big enough to pick up people, skyscrapers, and even entire land masses! Though, no matter what size you make your Katamari, the King will most likely always call your efforts "puny".

The graphics consist of 3D in a cartoon-esque style. As mentioned before, you spend all of the levels running around and rolling up as much as possible. During the load screens, a 2D drawing of the King’s head bounces around; sometimes mentioning odd things. At the end of each level, the King will either scold you for not completing the requirement (with some 2D animation of him looking scary in a lightning storm) or you and your Katamari will be pulled up on the ROYAL RAINBOW (a 2D animation of what looks like the King throwing up a rainbow and pulling you inside) where your Katamari will be judged accordingly.

Out of all of the series I have played, Katamari has to have one of the most memorable theme songs ever. Other than that, I don’t remember much of the rest of the soundtrack from the game. I remember it feeling appropriate to the game, and fitting as background music, but I honestly do not remember it beyond that. What I do remember are all the sounds in the levels… mostly of people screaming.

Overall, if you like weird things, then you will most likely enjoy this game. If you are looking for something completely random, then I also suggest this game. However, if you prefer your games being easy rather than hard and you get frustrated easily… Be warned: While the beginning of this game is easy, it does get hard by the end. It’s a bit annoying when you have to constantly redo a mission that is 15+ minutes because you barely missed the goal of the level.

Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland Review

Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland (PS3)

Soo... I've had this review sitting on my computer for the last month, lol.

This game is one of the reasons why I despise games with multiple endings. I had to replay this game 4 times to get the ending I wanted. With my first attempt, I ended up getting locked into a permanent Game Over because I was so focused on getting the character‘s ending flag. With my second attempt, I didn’t trigger the character’s ending flag quick enough. Almost giving up, my third attempt ended in failure due to not getting the town’s approval rating high enough. My fourth attempt finally netted me what I wanted, after a month worth of redoing things.

Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland is the eleventh main game released in GUST’s Atelier series (the sixth one to be released stateside), and it was their first jump into 3D graphics. I have never played any of the previous Atelier games (I fib: I played an hour of Mana Khemia, but I don‘t believe that to be enough to compare the whole series), so I will not comment on the differences between them. However, I will say that the graphics were nice, but I have seen better. Luckily, the emphasis during cut scenes were more focused on the static talking head images; which were nicely drawn too.

Going against the typical JRPG narrative of “THE WORLD IS IN DANGER OHMYGOD”, the story of Rorolina Frixell, nicknamed Rorona, starts as her being an apprentice to a somewhat lazy alchemist named Astrid Zxes. When informed that the Atelier would be shut down within 3 years unless they complete specific requests from the kingdom, Rorona starts to worry but Astrid just smirks. Bringing Rorona and her friend Cordelia outside the building, Astrid exclaims that she is giving the workshop to Rorona; and it is up to Rorona if it succeeds or fails.

The gameplay of Atelier Rorona is a combination of a few things. You have aspects of a Dating Sim, a JRPG, and an elaborate synthesis system. You can do quests for people to raise their friendship levels (which will trigger exclusive cut scenes per person), and you can do quests at the front desk inside the castle to raise your popularity in the town. However, each of these quests will have an end date and if you miss it, your popularity or friendship points will lower accordingly. Your town approval rating and your character relations will determine what ending you acquire. 

There will be times that require you to venture out of town to gather supplies for your alchemic creations. This is where the Japanese Role-Playing Game aspect comes into play. You can chose up to 2 other team mates to accompany you during battles for a price… no literally, you have to pay your friends to help you. Though because this game is heavily focused on alchemy, it is sometimes best to rely on your synthesis items more than physical strength (at least for Rorona) in battle. The battles are turn-based, but if I ever had any issues, I was able to instantly flee from the fight.

The elaborate synthesis system is not too elaborate. Item A combined with Item B will always equal Item C (unless you are not at a high enough level to complete the object or you try to add the item attribute “complex”). Different items have different attributes that can be added to the item you are trying to make. However, some attributes can work to your advantage while others can go against that. Something to keep in mind is whatever you decide to concoct will take a certain number of days to create. Most of the time, this game had me running around trying to plan out what days to talk to specific people, what days to go adventuring, and what days to do quests and in what order. I guess if you look far enough into this, you could say the game is a metaphor for Time Management in our daily lives.

I will admit that I played the game with the Japanese language track, but that was because Rorona’s English voice seemed to grate on my nerves, and things almost always sound better when it’s in a language you can not understand. Though speaking of audio, Atelier Rorona’s musical score was pretty, but that is what I have come to expect from GUST. Still, Atelier Rorona’s soundtrack is not their best one, but it still was not bad. 

I want to take a step out for a moment and talk about the characters of Atelier Rorona. The character’s outfits are very well designed. They gave a feeling of a mix between modern clothing and clothes from the Victorian era. Normally there is at least one character that I do not like in a game, and aside from the typical evil Minister who is trying to shut down Rorona’s workshop, I liked all of the characters in the game (including shopkeepers too). It truly felt as if different characters could be their own selves and not be criticized for doing it. However, I still have to question Rorolina’s magical age change during her transportation from Japan to America (Japan = 14, America = 17).

Overall, if you enjoy dating Sims and/or Japanese Role-Playing Games, then you will probably like Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland. If not, then I’m assuming you wouldn’t be looking for and reading a review of the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Review

 

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN, Wii)

Despite how much of a Zelda fan I have been during my lifetime, I will make sure to make this review as unbiased as possible; as I always try to achieve to do this. This was my fourth time finishing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but only my third time of finishing the Gamecube version of it. The reason for myself playing LoZ:TP again was because of my run of video games I have been showing to my boyfriend. Sadly, after replaying this I did not like it as much as I did when the game was first released.

Twilight Princess starts itself with a little bit of melancholic dialogue before informing You (or Link, since the game has the name programmed) that the day after tomorrow You/Link will be delivering a gift to the Hyrule Royal Family. Afterwards, the game starts showing you how peaceful life is in the southern Hyrulian Village of Ordon. You are introduced to your horse Epona, a couple children (including a smart-alec baby), their parents, and one of the game's female love-interest characters; Ilia. All of this is an obvious setup that something is about to go horribly wrong, and indeed, something does go wrong. Right before Link is able to leave on his journey to Hyrule Castle, King Bulbin appears. He clubs Link in the back of the head and kidnaps Ilia with the help of some lesser Bulbins. Once Link wakes up, he runs off towards the forest... only to be pulled into the veil of Twilight and pulled into an adventure bigger than he imagined.

The gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is akin to the gameplay of almost any other Zelda game with a few things changed. When inside the Twilight Realm, Link is transformed into a blue-eyed sacred beast (read: wolf), and all the inhabitants of the area are turned into spirits. The people can not see you, but you can see and listen to them. You won't be able to do much until you meet Midna... but don't worry as you meet her almost as soon as you become a wolf for the first time. As a wolf, you can dig in the ground to find hidden items, sniff scents to show you the way to go, use Midna to jump long distances (only in certain areas), and use Midna to warp to other areas once you open the corresponding portals. When encountering enemies, you can jump on them or you can use Midna to create a circle around you where any enemy enclosed in it would be attacked. Every area transformed into Twilight can be turned back to normal once you capture 20 Tears of Light from special bugs in the area.

Once you are "human" again, the gameplay turns into the routine style of past Zelda titles. You have a sword and shield... plus the items you acquire over the course of the game; like the Boomerang, Bow, and et cetera. There are a few different item choices in this game though. Instead of getting the Hookshot, you now have what is called a Clawshot... and you get TWO of them; but you have to wait till the end of the game for the second one. As awesome as it was to fly around with two Clawshots, I felt a little bit ripped that instead of getting a new exciting item in one of the later dungeons... I just got another of an item I received towards the middle of the game. Though, relating to another item decision, I thought it was interesting that the Latern required oil to stay lit... even if I used no more than 3 bottles of oil during the whole game.

Aside from items, Link is able to learn Hidden Skills thanks to the help of a glowing wolf/skeleton named the Hero's Shade. All of the skills are activated in battle depending on reactions from enemy attacks. Though, you  must go out on your own and find various stones with wind blowing through them to access the Hero's Shade. All of the these stones require you, as Wolf Link, to howl the same sound that the wind makes before the Golden Wolf will show itself.

The musical score of this chapter in the Zelda series was not as memorable as past Zelda titles; which is confusing since most of the score consisted of remixes from older Zelda scores. The instrumentals during the game were beautiful, and well placed, but after a while the music felt like it just mixed together and was undiscernible as to what song was from where. Nothing noteworthy to listen to outside of the game other than Midna's Theme and Ilia's Theme.

As far as how the game looks graphically, after being on the market for almost 5 years the game still looks decent. Twilight Princess does not fall into the 1080P HD 3D Realism, but it does indeed still look decent. Compared to other Zelda titles, the details and certain characters (such as Zora Queen Rutela) just stick out in my mind. The only thing I wish is that they would take the level of detail to Hyrule's landscape. Ever since Ocarina of Time (except for Majora's Mask), the landscape has looked bare with hardly any kind of vegetation growing. 

Overall, despite The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess being a "darker" Zelda title, and as all series know Darker = BETTAR... I was not entirely amused by the game. This is not to say that the game is bad. The game is good, but as far as being as amazing and deserving of the pedestal that people place it on... no. The whole time while playing Twilight Princess I had no feeling for the inhabitants of Hyrule. There was no sense of imminent danger for their lives. Even when the characters were transformed into spirits in the Twilight Realm they still continued on with their lives as if nothing happened. Now, there were a few who acted scared but that was in reaction to enemies moreso than the characters realizing that their world changed, and once you defeated the enemies the people were back to normal. During Twilight Princess, you feel more like a background character more than the character who is saving everything.

Costume Quest (PSN) Review

Costume Quest (PSN, XBLA)

I know I listed this on my top games of 2010 list (Honorable Mention) with only playing the Demo of the game, but unlike my Donkey Kong review, I still believe that this game deserves it's spot on my list.

Costume Quest is a downloadable game for the Xbox360 and PS3 that was released around late October of 2010. What originally caught my eye with this game is that it was developed by Tim Schafer (of Grim Fandango, Psychonauts and Brütal Legend fame). From what I have noticed from playing some of the previously mentioned games, Tim Schafer has an interesting sense of humour to his storytelling and his games tend to have amazing art design. Costume Quest is no exception.

I originally had downloaded the demo since I'm not too keen on downloadable-only games (I prefer having hard copies of my games). However, I was blown away by the demo. I ended up finding everything that I could find in the demo and continued to play it for about almost an hour and a half! Though, I did not buy the full version of the game right then due to not having enough money. Luckily thanks to some magical invisible universal force making me wait to get the game, Costume Quest actually ended up going on a 50% off sale.

The game itself was a little bit shorter than I was expecting... but then again, I can not tell you the exact amount of time that I put into the game. All I know is that I sat down everyday for about 3 - 4 days straight playing the game. Even though I am playing the game "out-of-season" (since the game takes place on Halloween), I was too enthralled with how fun the game played moreso than to care if the game was relevant. There is DLC (Downloadable Content) for the game that extends the story a little more, and for the first time, I'm actually going to buy it.

As far as the story of Costume Quest, you start the game on Halloween night. The two twin children main characters, Wren and Reynold, are getting ready to go Trick-or-Treating. Their mother ends up assigning one of them to be in charge and protect the other one. This is where you get to choose your gender of playing as a girl or a boy. I chose Wren since I am of the female body type. The characters get changed into their costumes; for the playable character: a robot, and for the NPC sibling: a candy corn.

You go outside and both you and your sibling attempt to get candy from your neighbors, only to be shunned away because of your horrible costumes. When attempting to get candy from another house, a Goblin... err, a Grubbin comes out of the house (after tearing it apart for candy itself) and sees the NPC sibling dressed as a candy corn. Mistaking the child for actual candy, the Grubbin kidnaps them and thus begins your epic journey of cosplaying on Halloween to save your other half.

The game plays like a JRPG during battles, in the sense that the game is a Role Playing Game and all the battles are turn-based. You have 3 different attacks, each set to 3 different buttons, during battle. Though you'll mainly be using only 1 button combined with a quick-time event for the majority of battles; unless you equip skill-learning battle stamps to your characters. The third button of battle happens about once ever 3 turns, but opens up a special move (i.e. for the robot, you get a massive missile fire). When Trick-or-Treating, the enemies are randomized in the houses, while in certain parts of the game the enemies are viewable in the area.

Outside of battles, you explore the town for various items and dropped candy. You can talk with other children and accept quests from them too (like helping them obtain a certain kind of card). Though certain parts of the town are only accessible via the special abilities of your costumes (i.e. like using the robot to skate up ramps, and the knight's shield to block stuff falling overhead). You can find coffin-like treasure chests as well that mostly either contain candy or materials for a new costume.

I only beat the game at level  8, but I was fine with that. Sometimes it is nice to just sit back and enjoy a game for what it is, and not spend eternity grinding yourself silly against enemies to level up just to beat a particular boss.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (GCN CE) Review

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) and The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (GCN)


The Legend of Zelda series is my favorite video game series of all time. However, as with any series that I adore, I try not to be a bumbling idiot blinded by the words "LEGENDU OF ZERDA" (or any other game title) whenever a company announces a new game or port. Despite this, I still have bought almost every port of every American-released Zelda-related title. I have even imported the Japanese version of Four Sword Adventure just to play Tetra Trackers, and I am planning on importing Tingle's Rosy Coloured Ruppeeland eventually. Out of all the ports and remakes, Collector's Edition for Gamecube was one that I received right when it was available (via a Nintendo Power Renewal Gift) back in 2004. Even though it came out 7 years ago, I never rebeat any of the games on it until today... That game being The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Majora's Mask seems to be a special case amongst fans of the series that I have encountered. People tell me that they either: A) Did not play it because they hate time management in video games, B) Played it, but it was awful (this is mostly connected with "OCARINA OF TIME IS WAY BETTER"), C) It was really good OR D) OMG IT IS THE BEST GAME EVER!!!
As for if I fall into any categories on the above mentioned list: Yes and No. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is #4 on my Top 10 Video Games of All Time list. However, there is another Zelda game that is listed higher than it; and No, it is not Ocarina of Time... That one is #9 on my list.

I decided to replay The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask because my boyfriend fell into category A in the above list, and I wanted to prove that the Time Management in the game was not that bad. Without a way for me to hook up my N64, I figured I would pull out Collector's Edition for the Gamecube. What surprised me was how many differences there were between the two versions.

Technically, the save file I finally beat was not my first attempt to run through Majora's Mask on Collector's Edition. I was never able to finish my original attempt. The game would randomly delete my data at odd intervals. In my original save, the farthest I got was beating Twinmold in Stone Tower. What stopped me from going straight to the Final Boss fight is that when I saved my game at the Owl Statue, turned off my Gamecube, and returned to the game later, the save said I had not finished Stone Tower... or Ikana Castle. I would have chalked this up to fowl on my memory card, except if it had messed up, then my 2,000+ blocks of other data would have been corrupted as well and it was not.
When going through on my newest try, I realized that the game would only temporarily save at Owl Statues and then permanently save when you played the Song of Time.
Earlier in the game, right before activating the Owl Statue for Woodfall, my game ended up freezing and I had to do all of the Deku Palace again. I encountered this same problem on my second try (the now beaten file) when leaving the Tourist Hut in the Southern Swamp, and my game froze again.
Majora's Mask on Collector's Edition also had an issue with horrible lagging, but as my friend pointed out, MM on CE ran at a lower frame rate than the original game due to it basically being a ROM played on a built-in Emulator on the GCN disc. Our speculation lead us to believe that games with the N64 Expansion Pak are harder to emulate since Ocarina of Time on the Collector's Edition disc was fine.

On my now beaten file, I obtained every mask in the game so I could achieve the Fierce Deity Mask once again. To anyone who does not know of this item, it is only allowed to be used during Boss Fights and it allows you to play the game on what I call "God Mode". However, from what I found out, obtaining the Fierce Deity in Collector's Edition would come at a price.
That price would be because of the lagging, and would cause a not-so-strong Fierce Deity. I still managed to beat the game just fine, but I actually got hit quite a lot during the Final Boss fight and that never happened to me on the N64 version. Also, due to the lag, my Magical Sword attack barely connected with the boss.

If you were to ask me which version of the game you should get, I would tell you "If you can get a N64, then get the N64 version. However, if you only have a Gamecube or a Wii, then get the Collector's Edition, because like I said, the game is still beatable despite it's nuisances."


If you are curious as why I adore Majora's Mask so much, then you'll have to wait. I'll talk about that on another day.

Donkey Kong Country Returns - Review

 Donkey Kong Country Returns - Nintendo Wii

Before I say anything, this game taught me that I need to finish the games I put on my Top 10 for a year before I make my Top 10 list. An ending to a video game, or any other type of media can completely change your opinions.

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When I was growing up, the video game consoles that I played were the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Nintendo 64 (N64). My main love in video games fall into the realm of 2D games; so growing up the SNES had a bigger influence over me. Out of all the SNES games I played, the Donkey Kong Country series was one of my favorites to play. They were challenging, but they never pissed me off.

Fast forward 14 years since DKC3 came out: A new Donkey Kong Country game is released and is rumored to be a direct sequel to the original Donkey Kong Country. I was a little skeptical of this game being good since a lot of sequels to older games have disappointed me lately. However, I was willing to give this game the benefit-of-the-doubt... and I was right in doubting it.

Nintendo seems to be in the habit of "dumbing down" their games in an a way to appeal to the casual gamer (which is a vast majority of their customer base) by way of introducing a mechanic called "Super Guide". Now I am not having an argument against casual gamers, because if the "hardcore" crowd wants a hard game then there are a plethora of hard games out there. Getting back to mentioning the "Super Guide", at first I mocked the mechanic because I am normally really good at platforming games, but I ended up relying on the Super Guide heavily towards the end of the game... This includes the Final BOSS.

I want to make something clear that a lot of people in various gaming communities seem to forget. MEMORIZATION does not make a game HARD... it only makes the game IRRITATING. Now the only thing that I will mention about the game being hard was the Final Boss. However, that was because there was a memorization part that was attached to the level before the fight (which in a previous stage, the memorization part was not connected to the Boss) and then it would save at the Boss, which if you failed on the Final Boss you had to start the fight over without Diddy. I tried but I'm not that good with fighting parts in sidescrolling games; let alone doing it with only half the normal amount of health.

Aside from the memorization issues, there were a few other things about the game that depressed me. First off, for this game being a sequel-to-the-original-DKC/in-the-DKC-series then it is severely lacking animal buddies that help you. The only animals I saw in Donkey Kong Country Returns were Squaks and Rambi, and Rambi was the only one that was present in the actual levels (though only present in about 3 levels). Secondly, I was not amused by the new Rocket Barrel mechanic (which lead to my anger of memorization for the most part of the game). Thirdly, I was sad to see no King K. Rool, but I can always accept new villains in a series.

Now I'm not fully ragging against the game, there were some things I liked as well. For instance, I adored the levels that screamed "ARTISTIC VALUE" despite those levels only appearing about 2 or 3 times in the whole game. Though one of the artistic levels actually bothered me since it was too foggy most of the time to see everything, but I still managed to finish it without the Super Guide.

Overall, I really did enjoy the game... when it was not requiring me to memorize patterns. As far as the story, I enjoyed it's wackiness and for the sake that when a game can express it's entire story without ANY use of dialogue but still convey what is happening through the characters' expressions that I must give it a prop of some kind. Even if Super Smash Bros. Brawl was not the greatest thing EVAR, I still give it's unneeded Adventure Mode a prop for telling a story with no dialogue as well.

As far as what I would rate this game, I give it nothing. I used to rate games when I reviewed them, but not anymore. It should be evident by how I explain the game if it is good or not.