I dunno if I could say my parents were supportive of my entertainment choices, but they always encouraged me to engage deeply with whatever hobby I had. My dad was a musician in his teens and twenties, and my mom was a pinball and arcade fiend in the ‘80s; I think my dad saw how much games inspired me to write and…

Crossplay has been a huge thing for me and my friends. We started playing games online together during the early 360 era, but when the PS4 and Xbox One were announced, I split for the PS4. I didn’t like MS’s plan for their new console and I had fallen for the PS3 late in its life. We had been playing online games…

All of those fighters, including Steve, represent franchises that have a longstanding relationship with Nintendo. Final Fantasy was for years a Nintendo exclusive (and Sakurai said he picked Cloud for popularity’s sake, as he didn’t think anyone would recognize a character from FF1-6); Namco has collaborated with…

Minecraft took quite a while to be ported to Nintendo platforms, but the game has more of a presence than you’d think. The Super Mario Mash-up Pack is exclusive to Nintendo hardware and has tons of Mario skins and lovingly detailed pre-built world, complete with recreations of Delfino Plaza and the Super Mario World…

I bought the entire Super Mario Compact Disco off iTunes a year or two back, but I think it’s also on Spotify. It’s really something else. Fun and corny as hell, but it’s also a project that could only have been made in the early ‘90s, which is a bit charming.

I’d first gone through Castlevania 1 and 2 on the NES Classic, but I’m excited to try the Japanese versions on the Anniversary Collection—especially the Famicom version of 3 with the special sound chip. It’s gotta be the best sounding game of the 8-bit era.

I went into Altered Beast hating it (I’d never gotten past the first level before), but by the end I’d come to love how fucking weird it is. It’s brutal though. I can’t believe that was the Genesis pack-in before Sonic.

This is exactly how I’ve been treating the past few months in isolation. I try not to consider my library of unplayed games a “backlog” (that seems so imposing, like a to-do list of sorts), but it’s been great to give some overlooked games the proper time of day. Also helps that I was recently laid off. :P

Hey, I never said AC was a good platformer. :P

I’m glad I’m not alone on the SMB3 and SMW debate. Some days I feel one is better than the other. But people leave Yoshi’s Island out of that conversation, and honestly—putting aside the historic importance and influence of each title—it might be the best platformer ever made.

You’ve got amazing taste. I replayed Sonic CD recently and it finally clicked for me. Also Super Mario Land 2 is the series’ actual “hidden gem.”

The All-Stars/Advance version of SMB2 is arguably as good as SMB3.

I love platformers so much. This is a great selection of games. My personal top 3 changes with the weather, but right now it would be:

I’m a lifelong platforming fan, and I have a pretty generous definition of the genre. To me, a platformer is any game where one of the primary challenges is navigating obstacles by running and jumping. So, Super Mario Bros. is a platformer; Mega Man is a platformer; Assassin’s Creed is a platformer; Tomb Raider is a…

SotN isn’t nearly as good as Bloodlines or Rondo of Blood. The back half of it is kinda toothless, especially when Alucard is so overpowered that you can mow down entire hallways in seconds.

Somehow they thought Nintendo’s support was possible even before now, despite how toxic the community already was.

I’m with you. The name is a dead giveaway. They’re clearly trying to evoke that old franchise. Though I would have preferred a set of missions based on the movies rather than an original story.

Really, no mention of Rogue Squadron? This is clearly supposed to be a spiritual successor, especially considering the title. RS2 is still one of the best Star Wars games ever made. I hope EA/Disney goes into the vault and re-releases those along with this.

I’ve been playing on Xbox One with a 1-month Gold trial running because I really don’t wanna pay $60/yr for a F2P MMO, when I’m already paying for PS+ and Switch Online. I was hoping I could easily switch to PC and avoid that subscription cost (I’m also running Windows 10 via Bootcamp on my Mac), but the install size…

We did get a sequel, actually—Nintendogs + Cats on the 3DS. It was a very early title. I really like it, but it looks like it didn’t do anywhere near the same numbers as the DS original.