Super Paper Mario

I think it best that I come out swinging for this review. Super Paper Mario has a lot of interesting ideas but fails to properly execute any of them. Unlike its predecessor, it is woefully dated graphically. Combine that with boring level design, a penchant for padding and a tonally inconsistent plot and you have one of the most middling games in the entire Mario series. Perhaps the most disappointing game in Intelligent Systems’ entire catalog, there is no reason to play Super Paper Mario when there are hundreds of better platformers out there.

Final Fantasy VI

Final Fantasy VI is heralded as one of the greatest JRPGs of not only the Super Nintendo era, but of all-time. Beloved for its approach to storytelling, memorable characters, excellent presentation and deep and exploitable battle system, Final Fantasy VI is legendary among gamers, young and old. It says something about a game when a debate rages on whether this title or its immediate sequel, Final Fantasy VII, is the superior game. Even now, 20 years after its original Japanese release, Final Fantasy VI is still an absolute classic that may have actually become better with age.

Crazy Taxi

Crazy Taxi has always been my go-to game for whenever I feel down or sick of whatever bloated RPG I’ve been playing. It’s fast, hectic arcade action at its finest. For an arcade game from 1999, it has held up surprisingly well. It came at a time when Sega was looking to inject some new life into their line-up and it did precisely that. Crazy Taxi was one of the most successful and iconic games of the late 90s and it left a lasting impression on many gamers. There have been sequels to Crazy Taxi but none of them managed to capture the devil-may-care attitude or the nuanced action that the first game had. As a result, Crazy Taxi is still a one-of-a-kind gem despite numerous rip-offs having made their way into the market after it took off in '99.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Aliens: Colonial Marines is aggressively terrible. It does so little right that it would almost set a new low for licensed games if that bar wasn’t already as low as it could go. The only time the game is even remotely interesting is when it is directly referencing Cameron’s “Aliens”. Aside from those moments, it’s a cut-and-paste shooter that fails to deliver on any of the promises that Gearbox had made. Colonial Marines is a disaster on all accounts. Gearbox, Timegate, Sega and whatever other parties were involved with the game should be ashamed that they unleashed such a half-baked wreck upon the public.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

RPGs aren’t a genre for everyone. When you consider how non-interactive the game portions of titles like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are, it’s a wonder that the genre ever caught on. That’s not to say that there weren’t more interactive alternatives to the typical DQ battle system, there were. Square’s own Parasite Eve and Super Mario RPG created inventive new battle systems that forced players to pay attention and stay invested in even the easiest of battles. The Super Mario RPG style of battle, which is heavily dependent on timing button presses, found its way into its spiritual successor series, Paper Mario. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, the 2^nd title in the sub-series, expands on concepts first presented in the 1996 SNES RPG but in doing this, reveals some problems with the interactive battle system.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins

I've always dug Capcom’s fondness for digging up its old arcade classics and porting them to modern systems. Games like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Dungeons & Dragons and Darkstalkers 3 are either difficult to come by or their home ports simply weren't good. With that in mind, I still found it strange that Capcom would do a HD re-release of Marvel Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom. Neither game is very expensive or hard to come by. In addition, the star attraction, Marvel vs. Capcom, has a Dreamcast port that’s nearly arcade-perfect. It was an odd cash-grab for Capcom and the high price tag didn’t make it an appealing purchase when it came out. However, now that every other Marvel vs. Capcom title has been delisted, I think it’s worth diving into. 

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes

The original Marvel vs. Capcom quickly fell off the radar after Marvel vs. Capcom 2’s release a scant two years later. To make matters worse, its contemporaries like Third Strike and Darkstalkers 3 overshadowed the game. Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes is almost like the neglected middle child of late 90s Capcom fighters. It was popular for a time but its little brothers overshadowed it fairly quickly. It may not be as deep or refined as Third Strike or Darkstalkers 3 but it’s still a fine game in its own right. At any rate, it’s an absolute shame that it’s been given the shaft for so many years.