First of all, for a fan-made remake of a classic of disputable merit, this game is on point when it comes to quality. The world closely follows the same map layout and physics as the original Metroid 2 and fixes OH SO MANY problems that the original game had. Some examples include: a much larger viewing area as Samus's sprite in the original game took up around 2% of the screen (which is quite a bit when you consider the Game Boy's pixel ratio); a map and area landmarks to make it less likely to become lost; and better aiming and enemy AI. And if that wasn't enough, the game was pretty much given the complete "Zero Mission" treatment as additional abilities and skills from other games, new bosses, added puzzles, and new optional areas were added to flesh out the game even more. I particularly enjoyed how the developer managed to fit an escape sequence, a staple in the franchise, into the game; it made it feel more like a true Metroid game as a result. Further in the game, I noticed some of the music from the original was replaced with newer songs, but there is no real loss there as the original hardly had any music in it outside the main SR388 theme, the metroid fights, and the last 4 songs you hear in the game. This was a very welcome addition as the original music was so boring and uninspired; it didn't really fit the "Metroid" vibe. This labor of love is the Metroid game that we dedicated fans have been waiting for since the lackluster performance of Other M. Since it is free it is well worth the play, that is if you can find it now.

Score

All of these good points make me wonder though...Why did Nintendo issue the cease and desist? I get that they have every right to protect their IP by any legal means necessary, but was shutting down a fantastically made fan project after it had been finished really the way to go? Nintendo could have done so many things to protect their IP without stating some legalese to Milton. I have seen quite a few examples where fan projects have garnered attention from the companies that own the IP in question, but they managed to handle it much better than what Nintendo has done. I'll list a few examples:

• A while back there was a fan-made Mega Man game that was being developed by a very dedicated fan and they ran into a similar problem that Milton had where the company that owned the IP had taken notice and contacted the developer about the matter. BUT instead, what CAPCOM did was much better by comparison. They gave this fan their full support AND even helped them by loaning them some software tools to make the project go more smoothly. The finished project, Mega Man X Street Fighter, was eventually finished and released on CAPCOM's fan-site without a hitch.
• Christian Whitehead, the developer of some fan games of his own, was also contacted by a big name dev; Sega in this case. Because of the quality of his work, he and and another dev called Headcannon teamed up and worked with Sega to produce these very well made enhanced ports of the original Sonic the Hedgehog games. And now they're working on Sonic Mania, which is basically the ultimate Sonic fan-game.
• And last but not least, Black Mesa, a fan-made HD remake of the first Half Life game. Similar to the Mega Man and Sonic scenarios where the game was being made and the owners of the original IP caught wind of it and contacted the devs. But instead of going all "I'ma sue you" on them, they allowed them to finish the game AND legally sell it on Steam. Sounds like a pretty good deal if you ask me.

Now with these successful scenarios present, why hasn't Nintendo caught on yet? The fans obviously aren't getting what they want from the owners of the IP in question, so they take matters into their own hands. And what does Nintendo do? They get WAY too protective of their property and inadvertently squash the hopes and dreams of their fans. What they should do is contact the dev and pay him to port the game to one of their consoles like the Wii U or 3DS, but the chances of that happening are slim to none. Now I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this matter. They're a big company in another country; they likely don't realize how much PR damage they're causing. But even if they did, they probably would still issue the takedown notice anyway because they are quite stubborn in that regard. Now don't get me wrong, this whole ordeal doesn't make me love Nintendo any less; it just makes me frustrated with them, like I would get with a family member. They still have a lot to learn, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

#1: Inkling (Splatoon)

#2: Porky Minch (EarthBound)

Now for a not so obvious one. Ever since Porky's inclusion as a Subspace Emissary boss in Brawl, it got me thinking on why he wasn't included as a playable character. I get that he would be rather large in that spider mech he rides in Mother 3, but what about the "Heavily Armed" one in EarthBound? It's a fair bit smaller, 'bout the size of Bowser in terms of relative size, and would provide a much needed villain to represent the EarthBound series. Just give him his attacks and devices from EarthBound and Giygas's "Inexplicable Attack" as a final smash and he'd be set.

#3: Takamura (The Mysterious Murasame Castle)

#4: Krystal (Star Fox Adventures)

Probably one of the best characters to be added to the Star Fox series, and it probably helps matters that fans have wanted her in the game since Brawl. We need more varied Star Fox characters in the games. Fox and Falco are far too similar, and Wolf adds to the pile because of him having the same final smash and special moves as the other two. Krystal would bring some much needed originality through her staff skills and the help of her cloudrunner mount. Plus I don't think anyone could handle another Fox clone...

#5: Paper Mario

Think there are too many Mario characters as is? Nonsense! Besides, Paper Mario is different enough that he could be a rather unique character. Compared to regular Mario who is known for jumping, Paper Mario primarily uses a hammer when fighting. Just make Paper Mario's attacks mostly hammer based and make his specials based around the badge attacks and "curses" from The Thousand Year Door and he would be a perfect inclusion to the roster.

#6: Abraham Lincoln (Code Name S.T.E.A.M.)

#7: Captain Syrup (Wario Land)

#8: King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country)

#9: Vaati (The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap)

#10: Isaac (Golden Sun)

#11: Black Shadow (F-Zero X)

#12: Ridley (Metroid)

This is the last villain, I promise. Now I know the memes that has spawned from Ridley not being in Smash 4, but there IS a way to incorporate him into the roster and still make him big, but not "too big." The way I see it, Ridley wasn't notable because of his size, but because of his ferocity and primal fighting instincts. Give his movement some girth to it and he could feel big while still being around Bowser's size. I've seen hacks and mods of Brawl that have Ridley being playable and they all make him into a beast because of his heavy claw swipes and footsteps. Sakurai could do the same if he had thought of that as well.

#13: Saki (Sin & Punishment)

#14: Zoroark (Pokemon Black/White)

#15: Simon Belmont (Castlevania)

Well I would like to say that that's the end of my list, but I've had some issues with how some pre-existing characters play and I believe that a few of them could benefit from some minor modifications. So here is an additional 5 characters that are already playable in the games, but I think could use a little bit of tweaking.

#1: Lucina

She is a clone of Marth in the purest sense and to me, that is EXTREMELY lazy game design. Either get rid of her in the next game, or turn her into an alternate costume for Marth. Either or, this is unacceptable in her current form.

#2: Dark Pit

Yet another clone character, but of Pit this time. A slightly slower and slightly stronger variant of an existing character does not a good fighter make. He had so much potential to be good as he had his own exclusive arsenal in Kid Icarus: Uprising with even a weapon named after him. This needs to be fixed in the next game.

#3: Ganondorf

Now even though Ganondorf is technically a clone of Captain Falcon, he's a special case as he's actually a pretty good clone. But given this fact, he's still a clone. Now with the newest games, I don't understand why he doesn't have his sword now, or why his special moves aren't more like his dark magic from Ocarina of Time or any of the games where he's Ganon. It would make him so much more interesting.

#4: Jigglypuff

To be completely honest with you, I am not a fan of this character in the slightest. She plays weird, her final smash is garbage, and Smash 4 doesn't take her new Fairy-type in to account for new attacks at all. She needs a new moveset that takes advantage of her new type; her final smash especially.

#5: Wario

There isn't much wrong with Wario as of right now, but I do have a few issues with a couple of his special moves. His upward special doesn't gain enough air to be a viable recovery move, so why not move his down special to his up one and make it so you can manually charge it? And to replace his old down special, make it is quake punch from Wario Land: Shake It! While we're at it, bring back his side smash from Brawl as well. It's starting to feel like Sakurai is trying to make people forget that Wario was in a series other than Wario Ware.

Well, that's my list folks, if you disagree with my choices, tell me why in the comments and what you would have chosen instead. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

EarthBound Trilogy HD

No matter what forum or gaming site I visit, the one game I've seen that everyone wants on Virtual Console is Mother 3, and to tell you the truth, I'm one of them. I've played through the fan translation in its entirety and I loved it. But don't think that a Virtual Console release is what we need. Because the fan translation patch is already readily available to the public for free, I propose that a collection of all 3 Mother & EarthBound games redone with HD graphics would be the best way to go. It would breath new life into a series that had been neglected for such a long time.

Metroid Prime 4

We desperately need a proper new Metroid game, I think we can all agree on that. Now I'm not saying that Federation Force was bad; I actually enjoyed that game quite a bit. But I do think we need a new entry in the series where you play as Samus. There is so much that can be done with the game on the Switch, especially since both Prime 3 and Federation Force ended in a way that alluded to the enemy hunter, Sylux. I would think that if Prime 4 were made, you could have the ability to switch between the two characters and they would each have their own unique abilities and story line. Just a thought.

Hyrule Warriors Complete Edition

Hyrule Warriors was a helluva lot of fun despite its simplistic gameplay, but I think that Hyrule Warriors Legends on the 3DS was a little lackluster compared to the Wii U version. I think that combining all the features, content, and DLC of both games and releasing it on the Switch would make for a great collectors pack. But then again, since it would technically be the third iteration of the same game, I think a "casual mode" where you gain rupees, materials and EXP at a greatly accelerated rate would make the game much more enjoyable for those that lack the time to do all of that grinding.

Super Smash Bros for Switch

This situation would be similar to the Hyrule Warriors idea from the previous paragraph, but since both the 3DS and Wii U versions of Smash have vastly different content, I propose that having all of the characters, most of all the stages (with obvious duplicates removed), both Smash Tour and Smash Run, and the inclusion of Tag-Team Battles. And while we're at it, maybe bring back the Ice Climbers and Wolf. I was understanding of Ice Climbers being removed, but I was a little shocked that Wolf never came back.

Final Fantasy Hexology

This is another collection much like the EarthBound one I said earlier, but unlike EarthBound this wouldn't require a lot of work to do as the HD remakes already exist. Now the "hexology" I'm referring to is the first 6 Final Fantasy games on the NES and SNES which to my knowledge were all remade for iOS and PC in some form. Just port all of those to Switch and sell it for $40-50 and you're set.

Super Nintendo Land

I'm probably one of the few people that wished that Nintendo would make a sequel to Nintendo Land. The game was fun, so sue me. But as fun as it was, it was kinda lacking in the variety department. So I think a "deluxe" version of the game that has a few more attractions based around other games like Splatoon or Star Fox would probably make the experience more enjoyable in the long run. I personally think there should be around 20 attractions total, even if that means recycling the ones from the previous game.

Bayonetta 3

THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN. This series is criminally underrated and has been the subject of a lot of unnecessary backlash because people can't handle how the main character looks or acts. But the thing is, the series is one of the most fun, most polished games I've played in a very long time. And since the Switch seems to have a minor focus on paid online play, I think the online multiplayer this time around should be a MOBA of sorts where you make and customize your own Umbran Witch/Lumen Sage and play as them during the great war that happened 500+ years before the series starts.

Kirby Air Ride 2

Kirby Air Ride for the Game Cube was one of the most fun and most replayable racing games I ever owned. There was so much to do despite how little there was actually in the game. Now since the original game had a lot of focus around randomly selected events and challenges, I think a sequel could amp that up quite significantly if they also made the City Trial map and the race courses procedurally generated as well. And of course add more characters, air ride machines, and challenges as well.

Pokken Tournament Deluxe

I really liked the original Pokken; it gave me and a lot pokemon fans what we've been asking for for years. But I am a little disappointed that ONLY the arcade version of the game had been updated with 4 more characters since the release of the Wii U version. So I think the game needs to have a rerelease on the Switch with all of these new characters available, and maybe 3-6 new characters and a tag-team game mode to make it more worth your money to double dip.

Digilux: The Complete Art Style & Bit Generations Collection

I may like my fair share of difficult and challenging games, but that doesn't mean I don't want to kick back and relax with a simple game every once in a while. That's why I think a compilation of all the games from the Art Style and Bit Generation series would be perfect. These games have all but fallen completely off the radar in the past 7 years and I think a revival is in order. There's 15 games in these series each with their own gameplay styles and some of them even have multiplayer game modes; they would be perfect. (By the way, if you're curious about the name Digilux, it was a prototype name that Nintendo was originally going use before Art Style)

Well, those are my opinions on the matter. The Switch has a lot of promise for a great lineup of games, but only time will tell if devs will take advantage of the system's features. While just about none of these game ideas of mine actually do that, they are desperately needed regardless of what features they lack for the new system, even though this is just wishful thinking for me. So until then, I'll be seeing you.

The Wonderful 102

I loved The Wonderful 101. It was one of the few modern games that was able to take me back to my childhood. Now when I heard that Hideki Kamiya, the game's director, had ideas on what to do for a sequel, that got me REALLY excited. This game was extremely underrated and the fact that it was a Wii U exclusive kinda killed any hope for the game to sell well. I just hope that Nintendo sees potential in the series since they own the copyright.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Director's Cut

Even though Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was originally on my "to play" list, the censorship controversy that was surrounding it at the time kinda left a sour taste in my and many others' collective mouths. As such, I decided not to pick it up. BUT given the fact that it was on the Wii U, a console that was geared more toward younger players, it might stand a better chance if it were to be released fully intact and uncensored on the more mature-centric Switch, ESPECIALLY if they packaged it with all the DLC (even the hot-spring side story) on the cart. But that's just my theory.

The Zero Escape Saga

Speaking of Mature games, this series is grossly unheard of. I love me some quantum sci-fi and a good murder mystery as much as the next guy, but if you throw in some brain busting logic puzzles and a plot-heavy narrative not too dissimilar to the SAW franchise, then we got the formula for some interesting plot developments. I think these games would benefit best from being released as one whole package as once you start piecing the story together, it starts to become very difficult to put it down. Having them all together in one pack is just for convenience sake.

Solatorobo HD

Another underappreciated game, but for a different reason; its damn near impossible to get ahold of it for a reasonable price. Being a dieselpunk mech RPG set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, this game has a rather interesting concept but the execution is absolutely stellar. The only problem with it like I said is obtaining a copy. While I managed to get a copy on DS, that is the only system it is available for. Re-releasing it on a modern system like the Switch would be able to remedy this and give the game a second chance at life.

Mario & Sonic at the Dream Olympics

Now while I've greatly enjoyed this series, we all know that it has been less than inventive when it comes to making the Olympics fun for everyone, and even though I'm pretty sure the next game in the series (if there is one) is going to be Mario & Sonic at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games (God, what a mouthful), I really hope that they end the series with one final game and just fuse the Summer and Winter games into one pack and set it in both the Mushroom Kingdom and whatever the hell Sonic's homeworld is called nowadays. Maybe that would be the way to finally make the game fun for more than just a niche audience.

Wario Ware D.I.Y. Deluxe

There was one Wario Ware game that I feel didn't get the full use of the hardware it was produced for, and that was Wario Ware D.I.Y. on the Nintendo DS. Making my own music, comics and microgames was a lot of fun, but I felt that maybe it was a little bit limited with how the games were designed. I think if they were to bring this game back, they would need to include all of the content of the original DS game plus the companion game that was released on WiiWare, and give the player the ability to have make games that use the control pad and face buttons. That should drive the creativity options up a notch.

Ultimate Retro Game Challenge

My favorite reality show is Game Center CX on Fuji TV, so when I found out that the games based on that show were actually any good, I decided to pick them up. Now while I've never played the third game in the series as I've heard that it was quite awful, the first two games were some of the most nostalgic and creative games I've ever played on the DS. So what I think the dev of the first two games should do is compile all of the games and challenges from said games in one pack, and make around 8-10 more new games with 4 new challenges for each to justify excluding the contents of the third game. The real challenge would then be getting the game localized as only the first game was ever released outside of Japan.

amiibo Wars

The amiibo situation is starting to get a bit more under control now wouldn't you all think? That's why I think a new free-to-start amiibo game needs to be made to take advantage of this. When you consider the popularity of collectible object-type games in Japan like Kantai Collection, I think a tactical strategy game or a MOBA would benefit from this market the best. They're simple, easy to program, addictive when executed properly, and have great potential for additional content to be added to in the future. That, and I personally just want to see my massive collection of amiibo to get some use outside of unlocking some costumes or special missions.

Scott Pilgrim VS The World Collector's Edition

It was a real shame when Scott Pilgrim VS The World was removed from the PSN and XBLA online shops. It was a lot of fun and stayed quite true to its source material. But if in the event that the licensing issues are resolved in the future, I would want to see the game re-released in a physical format with extra content added. If it were to have all of the DLC, the complete film (and animated short film) in HD, a full color scan of the entire graphic novel all contained on the cartridge and a poster for good measure, I would be more than happy paying $60 for a game that would normally cost around $15-20.

NES Classic Collection

Okay now I know a lot of people, myself included, who were quite pissed when Nintendo ended production on the NES Classic Edition. That's why I propose that they port the contents of that device to the Switch, include digital scans of the manuals instead of scanning a QR code, and package it with a USB NES controller to hopefully give fans a similar experience and give them an alternative to something that was selling faster than a spare kidney on the black market. Plus it probably would be cheaper to manufacture something like that anyway and get away with selling it for $60. Plus if Nintendo really wanted to apologize, they could add another 10-20 games to it.

I continue to believe that the Switch has potential, but like any system on the market right now the games are what sells the system. Unless the console has games that people want to play, then there really isn't any reason to buy the Switch at all. This is still just wishful thinking on my part, but maybe and hopefully someone important in the gaming industry will see this and make some of these ideas a reality. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Even though the video is much shorter than what Nintendo has done for E3 in the past, there was a LOT of new stuff shown off with only a few teasers that didn't actually have any gameplay. But as always I'll recap what I can, and as a bonus I'll even recap some of the news that Nintendo showed off in their live streams after the Spotlight video ended. So let's get started.

• After the preview for the video had ended, there was a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for the Switch which showed off a small bit of some actual gameplay and more story elements. A definitive release date wasn't yet confirmed but it has a planned release for the holidays at the end of the year.
• Next a brand new Kirby game was shown off for the Switch and it appears to run on the same engine as the past three main series games. It appears that the game is already pretty far in development as gameplay footage of Kirby recruiting enemies as helpers and fusing abilities together in the trailer. It has a projected release of 2018.
• A brand new core series Pokemon game was revealed to be in development for the Switch. No other info about it was announced at this time.
• In an amazing surprise reveal, it was confirmed that Metroid Prime 4 is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch. However it was also confirmed that Retro Studios will not be working on this entry in the series meaning the game that they're currently working on for Nintendo is still unknown at this point in time.
• A brand new Yoshi game is in the works for the Switch and it was confirmed that it is being developed with Unreal Engine 4 of all things. It has a similar look and feel to the previous Yoshi game, Yoshi's Woolly World, but it has this new gameplay feature where you can flip the environment backwards when you ground pound and even throw eggs at enemies in the foreground and background. This game is also set for a 2018 release.
• Gameplay and story footage was shown off for Fire Emblem Warriors. A full voice cast will also accompany the game giving an official English VA for the character Marth. It was also shown that it will not feature characters from the entire series, but rather just the games Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates. It is slated to launch this Autumn.
• Content for first DLC pack for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild called The Master Trials was shown off preceded by the announcement for amiibo support in the Switch port of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The first DLC pack will go live at the end of June. In addition to this, a preview of the second DLC pack for Zelda was teased and the official name for the story that it will tell was revealed to be called The Champions' Ballad. DLC pack 2 will launch some time this holiday season. 4 new Breath of the Wild amiibo based on the 4 champions Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa were also announced for the game. No official release date the amiibo was announced at the time of the conference.
• Ubisoft revealed new info for their brand new crossover game for the Switch, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle which features Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi stopping an invading force of rabbids with the help of 4 "friendly" rabbids that are dressed like them. The gameplay footage shown off is a turn-based strategy game with heavy emphasis on cover-based shooting; much like X-Com. It will launch August 29 of this year.
• Psyonix revealed that their hit game Rocket League is coming to the Nintendo Switch with special Nintendo themed content exclusive to the Switch version. In addition, they confirmed that the game would have cross-platform multiplayer with the XBox One and PC versions of the game when playing online. Its slated for a holiday release.
• And finally, new features were shown off for Super Mario Odyssey. In the new gameplay footage, at least 2 new worlds were shown off (one being monochrome and one being prehistoric); Mario was seen to have the ability to ride certain vehicles and turn 8-bit to move around wall paintings; and through the use of Cappy, the spirit that is occupying his hat for this adventure, Mario can possess a plethora of different objects and enemies to help him on his quest to save Princess Peach. Also, after the Spotlight presentation, it was confirmed that the game would have Co-Op play where player 2 plays as Cappy. It will be released on the 27th of October this year.
• Now after the Spotlight was over, a few more things were announced. One of them being that we're getting not one, but two new Metroid games. The second one they announced was Metroid: Samus Returns for the 3DS and is being developed by MercurySteam. According to Yoshio Sakamoto, the game is said to be a reimagining of Metroid II on the original Game Boy. The remake will be adding many new features such as melee countering and amiibo support, and will use the original game as a base (I guess now we know why AM2R got hit with a cease and desist so soon after it was finished). It will be released on September 15th. New Metroid series amiibo were also confirmed to be in development for the game in the form of Samus in her Metroid II boxart pose, and a metroid with a soft, squishy outer membrane. These new amiibo will launch alongside the game.
• Separate from the E3 streams, Nintendo announced that a remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was being made for the 3DS with updated graphics and new content in the form of a strategic battle mode where you take control of Bowser's minions. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions will launch on October 6th of this year.
• A rather unusual new IP called Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido was revealed for the Nintendo 3DS and is being developed by Indieszero of NES Remix and Retro Game Challenge fame. Judging by the gameplay shown, it appears to mix the concept of match-3 puzzle games with real-time combat in a frantic style of game where you need to eat as much sushi as possible, collect the plates that the sushi was sitting on, and then use the plates as ammo to knock out your opponent. No release date was confirmed, but it will be released some time in 2018.
• More amiibo were confirmed to be in development. Mario, Peach and Bowser in wedding garb were shown off as well as a Goomba and Koopa Troopa for the Mario series set. In addition to those, Chrom and Tiki from Fire Emblem Awakening were also shown off in amiibo form. The new Mario, Peach and Bowser amiibo will launch alongside Super Mario Odyssey and the Goomba and Koopa Troopa will be released at the same time as Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions. No date has yet to be confirmed for the Chrom and Tiki amiibo but I would imagine that they would be released around the same time as Fire Emblem Warriors.
• More of Miitopia was shown off in detail. Movement in dungeons appear to be mostly automatic with occasional input from the player and combat is turn-based with the option for auto-battling. Amiibo support was also confirmed and would be used to gain Nintendo themed equipment. As for the miis in the game, all of them come from the system's internal memory or you can import them from Tomodachi Life. Miitopia will launch July 28th of this year.
• A bit more info for the 3DS game Ever Oasis was revealed. It will give the player the ability to customize their own oasis paradise and go dungeon crawling for more loot and experience. The overall combat appears to be similar in design to the Mana series of games which makes sense considering it was conceived by the same creator. The game will launch incredibly soon on June 23rd and a demo of the game is now available to download from the 3DS eShop.
• And last but not least, the first DLC character was shown off for ARMS in the form of the one of the game's previous champions, Max Brass. It was shown that he has skills that mirror the abilities of both Spring Man and Master Mummy. The new character, along with a spectator mode, will be patched into the game later this month.

Well that's all the info I can muster up for now. I can certainly say that if you are a Nintendo fan like me, then their announcements this year probably made you a very happy camper. Metroid Prime 4 and Metroid: Samus Returns were certainly a welcome surprise for those that were disappointed by Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but only time will tell if they are in good hands. So until then, I'll be seeing you.

First off let's recap the lore of the game: Samus is a bounty hunter well known for her heroic exploits against a massive group of interstellar terrorists known as Space Pirates who in turn were most well known for using an alien species known as Metroids as both a bio-weapon and organic energy source. After her climactic battle with them and Mother Brain on the planet Zebes, she became the one the Galactic Federation turned to when things started to become too difficult to control; Think along the lines of a one man SWAT team. After a botched recon mission to the planet SR388 in order to collect a living Metroid sample, the federation concluded that the Metroids were too dangerous to be left alive and called for Samus to commit mass genocide against the entire species. Not overly complicated and just interesting enough to keep your attention.

Now the gameplay is easy to pick up, but difficult to master. You have your usual move, jump and shoot actions plus Samus's unique ability to curl into a ball, but in this entry you have three new abilities that alter the feel of the game quite significantly: free aiming in full 360 degrees, a melee counter-attack, and the brand new Aeion abilities. Aeion let Samus perform special skills like revealing breakable blocks or slowing down time. All of these new abilities are just what the series needed to evolve the gameplay of the 2D entries further. Plus once you get the hang of the melee counter, you feel like a real bad-ass, especially against the larger enemies.

As for everything else in this game, it hits all of the marks I was hoping for a remake of game that did not age well. The music is fantastic and captures the atmosphere of the world extremely well, the gameplay and exploration is top notch and incredibly responsive and I love how many classic abilities make a return with brand new functions like the Spider-Spark and Grapple Lasso, and as for the ultimate goal in the game, it is exactly the same as what it was in the original; slay every metroid on the planet. This can range from relatively easy to quite a hefty challenge, but if you're having trouble you can scan a compatible amiibo to give you reserve tanks or the location of the metroid nearest to you.

Overall, I was initially skeptical about Mercury Steam developing a game in one of my favorite game series, especially after the lukewarm reception that Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate got from the fans. But my fears were eased when I played the game to 100% completion as this was probably one of the best 2D Metroid games I've played since I first experienced Super Metroid. Nintendo has successfully revived a series I long thought might be forever dormant and I can't wait for more in the coming years. But until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

(Please keep in mind that my opinions may or may not reflect your own, this list is entirely biased.)

Yoshi Topsy Turvy (Game Boy Advance)

While I like a fair majority of the games in the Yoshi series, I'm not entirely sure what was going through their collective minds when they developed this abysmal game. There are times in the game where it hardly ever feels like an entry in the Yoshi's Island series and those spirits that give you missions to do in order to up the difficulty don't even feel like they were meant for a Yoshi game in the first place. In addition, the gyroscopic controls are stiff and unresponsive; the motion sensors in Warioware Twisted were of much better quality and that game came out before this one. Luckily they haven't made a sequel to this drek so they must have taken notice of its poor design choices.

Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (Wii U)

An unusual board-game spin off of the Animal Crossing series, but I honestly think it should've been left on the drawing board. It is a retail game that downright REQUIRES the use of amiibo to play effectively, you only get one randomly chosen board to play on and you can't get a new one without erasing your progress, the minigames (which require the amiibo cards) are non-existent through normal play and can only be accessed from the plaza, and online play doesn't exist which would've helped a game like this even if it wasn't by much. If you still want to get it I can't stop you, but just to warn you I actually got so bored playing this game that I almost fell asleep.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS)

As you all know, I love The Legend of Zelda series and will often go out of my way to get anything Zelda related, but when I got this entry in the series, I feel like maybe this game might have been nothing more than one expensive experiment. This game seems to focus mostly on co-operative battles and player interaction over puzzle solving which completely misses the point of the series. Plus this game is damn near impossible when playing solo and since its online multiplayer is region locked, finding anyone who will play with me is a challenge in and of itself since I usually only have time to play late at night. That, and the unnecessary inclusion of the "doge" meme, made this a rather unpleasurable experience overall.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

Compared to its successor, Paper Mario: Color Splash, this game was an absolute snore. The dialog was uninteresting and bland and Bowser didn't have a single speaking role throughout the entire ordeal, the worlds were uninspired and just rehashed ideas that had been used in past entries in the main series Mario games, and everything done when in battle were only through the use of consumable items and fights yielded no experience of any kind. I actually got so tired of this game's shenanigans that I basically just did a speed run of everything after the halfway point. Overall, this game was such a disappointment to experience.

Metroid: Other M (Wii)

Metroid has been one of those series that I enjoyed just about as much as The Legend of Zelda and I was quite excited for Other M when it was originally announced, but after playing it again recently, it left such a sour taste in my mouth. First of all Samus's official height in every other entry in the series is 6'3" where as she's around 5'9" in Other M. While not too much of an issue on its own, when I found out that the devs shrank her so she specifically was shorter than Adam, her old commanding officer, I saw that as a stupid and petty design choice that demeans her as a strong female character. And while the gameplay isn't too bad, I think I can pretty much sum up all the problems this game has in one quote directly from the game...

"Samus, activate the Varia feature on your suit to protect yourself from heat damage."
- Adam Malkovich, roughly 20 minutes after entering the sector that requires the Varia Suit

Pokemon Dash (DS)

This game baffled me. It was a foot racing game where the only playable character was Pikachu, and you played by repeatedly swiping the screen in the direction that you want to go. If this game was released for iOS or Android devices for free, people would thing nothing of it, but since this was a retail game on the DS that got very stale and repetitive VERY quickly due to there being only one playable character, there was no reason to keep playing after you beat the first grand prix. Once you've played one map, you've pretty much played them all. Not even the ability to make new maps from the GBA slot could save this one.

Kirby Squeak Squad (DS)

As far as the Kirby series has gone, I've had pretty much no complaints with any game that has been released in this series so far, barring this particular one. Despite the baffling story to the game where it revolves around Kirby trying to recover a stolen slice of cake, it plays pretty much like what you would expect from a Kirby game, but compared to the other games in the series, this game is far too easy, even by Kirby standards. Plus some of the sound effects sound a bit off with the sword being the biggest offender having this horrendously high-pitched ding happen whenever you perform a combo attack. While this is a decent first game for newcomers to the series, this is in my opinion the weakest in the series due to its unchallenging gameplay (by Kirby standards) which ultimately renders this game forgettable to me.

Alleyway (Game Boy)

An attempt at making a Breakout clone with heavy emphasis on "attempt." Unlike Arkanoid, a much better Breakout clone which had been out on NES earlier, this game had no power-ups or enemies to destroy and extremely limited options for gameplay alterations. The stage progression was also very predictable and the difficulty was unfair for what type of game it was. I suggest if you want a good Breakout clone on the Game Boy, just play Kirby's Blockball. It is so much more unique and a helluva lot more fun.

Wii Fit series (Wii, Wii U)

I feel that a good number of us gamers can probably agree that fun and exercise can mix well when its done right, but one thing I can guarantee is complete and utter bullcrap is Nintendo's attempt at making a fun fitness game. Personal fitness is not a game, nor should it be treated like one. While I agree that if you want to get back into shape that you need to find your own personal workout regimen that works for you with some fitness games sometimes falling under this category, this "game" series is pretty much just torture and insulting to anyone that wants to lose weight or improve their health. The way this game uses your ideal BMI as an "endgame goal" is an absolute joke and it doesn't even take into consideration skeletal build or total muscle mass. You need to have an accurate measurement of all three, otherwise its just a demeaning experience. The fitness games on XBox Kinect look more fun and effective than this.

The Virtual Boy

And the pièce de résistance, the one thing that almost made me completely lose faith in Nintendo's ability to make a fun gaming console: The Virtual Boy. This red and black monstrosity had an astoundingly short lived run and had a library of games that barely exceeded 20 titles in all regions combined. But how could that be? I'll just cut to the chase and tell you that it was the godawful screen colors when you looked into the apertures of the device. On a monochrome screen, you should never EVER use a display color scheme that can induce headaches even after short periods of play. It's just a shame that none of the good games that were released on this thing ever got ported to a later system in Nintendo's repertoire of systems.

Being a hardcore Nintendo fan, these stains and marks on Nintendo's image physically hurt me as I know that they are capable of doing so much better. But I also know that they are only human and they likely learned a lot from making mistakes like these. They took features from Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and just added them to New Leaf as an update, they built upon Paper Mario: Sticker Star and made a somewhat better entry as Color Splash, and after the failure of the Virtual Boy, they didn't experiment with 3D imagery again until the 3DS. Hopefully Nintendo won't continue make any mistakes this bad in the near future, but until then, I'll be seeing you.