It’s about time I returned to Substack. I was having so much fun writing on this last year, but you know how it goes. Life gets in the way. Energy I could spend writing these random video game blog posts was better spent on other creative endeavors.
However, I’ve still played quite a few video games in my spare time. I thought it would be nice to recap what I’ve played so far, in addition to giving expanded thoughts on each game. I currently have an outlet to give numeric reviews on backloggd (@andrewsgameblog), but those “reviews” tend to be short, humorous takes that aren’t focused on discussing the game as much as they are on attempting to make you laugh (I think I’m funny, I’m sorry).
So this will hopefully give a slightly deeper look into why I think the games I played are good/bad/vomit inducing/great. As you can tell by the title, this is only going to cover video games I played in January 2024. It’s May as of writing this, so you can expect posts for February-May as well within the next couple weeks/months.
This will also be a much shorter post than the forthcoming months, as I only played three games, and my memory of them isn’t quite as fresh as when I played NES Soccer in February (spoiler alert: that game sucks balls).
Enough stalling. Game number one:
New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS - 4.5/5 Stars on Backloggd
I realized that 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo DS, which released in 2024. “Gee!” I said to myself, “I should play some DS games I’ve never played before in celebration!”
Then I proceeded to replay New Super Mario Bros. for the tenth time.
Look, I’m aware the “New Super” series gets a lot of hate, some of which is definitely deserved. However I think most would agree that the first one (this game) is easily the best one with lots of unique ideas. It’s got fun level design with some fun shifting terrain gimmicks, the power ups are interesting (I’m a defender of the blue shell and tiny mushroom) and is just overall a charming romp in the Mario universe. The art direction is bland compared to something like Super Mario Bros. 3, but it doesn’t feel as exhausted as it does in later Mario platformers. Whereas I always get bored about halfway through when I replay the other “New Super” games, I tend to stick with replaying New Super Mario Bros. until the credits role. I still have yet to 100% it though.
Yeah, there’s also all the extra mini-games that everyone raves about. I’ve never really played them for too long, but I’ve seen too many people scream into the ether about Luigi Gambling to ignore it. I’m glad lots of people have gotten that much enjoyment out of something that’s not even core the main experience. It shows how extra content can be an integral part of even the simplest of video games. I wish Nintendo would do more of that these days.
Pokemon Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero - Part 2: The Indigo Disc - 3/5 Stars on Backloggd
Yikes, that was an ass long title to type out.
This isn’t a full game, just the second DLC expansion of Pokemon Violet. I’m probably a bigger fan of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet than most people, and think it’s overall a net-positive for the Pokemon series. That said, things were dragging a bit by the time we received part two of the DLC. Part one was enjoyable enough, with an interesting story beginning to unfold with the character Keiran potentially becoming a villain. Many people, including myself, were excited to see how this continued in part two.
That said, this is Pokemon. In-depth characters has never been the series’ specialty, and I don’t know why I expected it to be any different. Keiran, and the rest of the story in part two comes off as pretty boring and predictable. He doesn’t have a full villain arc, instead just accepting that he’s not good enough because you’re a Pokemon god and that’s that. It’s lame.
Also, the extra stuff to do at Blueberry Academy is some of the most tedious garbage to ever grace a Pokemon game. Getting Blueberry Points through different quests is fun for the first few minutes, but quickly becomes tiring and repetitive. Usually I complete almost everything in Pokemon games, but the rewards cost way too much to be worth peddling through the exhausting quests.
The epilogue with Pecharunt that came out a bit later was neat I suppose, but why couldn’t it have just been in part 2 of the DLC? The story felt way too stretched out at that point.
Overall, The Indigo Disc was a passable yet mediocre end to the best 3D Pokemon games in the series. Yeah, I said it.
Bowser’s Fury - 4/5 Stars on Backloggd
I got Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury right when it came out. I had already played and beat Super Mario 3D World on the Wii U back in 2014, so my eyes were on the Bowser’s Fury portion. However, life got in the way and I never actually beat it in 2021. I had actually lent the game to my brother sometime after, and just never had a reason to ask for it back. Until January 2024, when I suddenly had the urge to beat it.
Beat it I did, and Bowser’s Fury is…good. Dare I say, really good. It’s pretty short (not that they had to make it long) and does feel a bit repetitive towards the end, but overall I think it’s the right direction for the series. If we don’t get something like “Super Mario Odyssey 2,” then I hope the next 3D Mario is something akin to Bowser’s Fury.
Oh, and beating this gave me the urge to beat Super Mario 3D World again. Spoilers for February. See you then!
Later! - Andrew