Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (NS2) Review

Our first review of this potentially busy month is Yoshi and the Mysterious Book for the Nintendo Switch 2, which also celebrated an anniversary on June 5th (though a one-year anniversary as opposed to our site's 18th anniversary). The game's a bit of a creature feature, but the best kind, at that! See why by reading on with the SPC review!

 Take a look, Yoshi's in a book: a discovery rainbow!

Yoshi's platforming debut in Yoshi's Island back in 1995 on the Super Nintendo is one that Nintendo's green dinosaur just can't escape the shadow of. Essentially, every platformer since is held to its high standard, and most of the time the comparisons aren't flattering. Now, my love and preference for Yoshi's Woolly World notwithstanding, it's safe to say that most other successors in the Yoshi franchise to Yoshi's Island have failed to live up to its rather esteemed reputation. 

Thus, it's interesting that Nintendo went in an entirely new direction with the Yoshi franchise. Yes, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is still a 2D platformer, but its structure and gameplay are quite different from the bog-standard, well-tread Yoshi's Island formula. Fortunately, for the Yoshi franchise, this is a direction that greatly succeeds at what it sets out to do!

Upon originally seeing the debut trailer for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book from Nintendo of America and all subsequent marketing, I was led to believe the game was going to be a charming, yes, but also an ultimately breezy adventure to play through, made more for younger audiences. While there's certainly some truth to that, overall, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book delivers enough challenges in its unique gameplay hooks that it kept me routinely coming back--enough so, that I happily 100%'d the game!

So, what IS Yoshi and the Mysterious Book if not yet another follow-up to Yoshi's Island? Well, it takes that game's foundations, but also expands greatly upon it to form something wholly original. The Yoshis stumble upon Mr. E (har-har), a talkative tome whose pages are incomplete. He requests that the Yoshis fill out and fill up his pages by entering inside and charting various creatures within. The Yoshis agree, and thus, the adventure begins. There's of course some story friction involved, such as Bowser Jr. and Kamek wandering through the pages, the former feverishly searching for a creature called the Bewilder Bird, but for the most part, the game is all about exploration and discovery.

Each "level" in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is a contained experience focused on one new creature. Levels are usually not too expansive, but some can be, nor are they overly linear. Instead, they offer plenty of passages, rooms, areas, and for certain, secret areas to find. Immediately upon entering a level, the specific creature to be examined in its native habitat is there.

From there, it's all about examining the creature and using its abilities to further explore the level. The main "collectible"--for lack of a better term--is that of creature discoveries. Take the very first creature introduced in what amounts to the tutorial level, the Crazee Dayzee. Some discoveries are as simple as having Yoshi gobble up the flower with his tongue or bash it with an egg. Simple interactions that don't require much thinking to uncover. However, more complicated and involved discoveries are also available. These could be things like dunking a Dayzee in some water to make it sprout, using said creature to bloom an arch of flowers once it passes by it, or more interestingly, using differently colored Crazee Dayzees to create a remarkable rainbow of bloomed flowers of varying hues. 

Looks like a new discovery is in bloom! Well done, Yoshi!

Each discovery is worth a certain amount of stars, from one to three, with the more complex and complicated discoveries earning three. With 30-40 discoveries for a given creature's habitat, there's a lot of stars to go around. The stars are used to unlock further chapters, so in this sense, it's similar to Super Mario Odyssey's Power Moons in that casual, inexperienced, or younger players can still enjoy the majority of the game's content just by playing and finding the minimal amount of creature discoveries, whereas more skilled, veterans players can seek out as many discoveries per level as possible, fully completing and exhausting each creature's lineup of discoveries, and also collecting the trickily hidden Smiley Flowers, as well.

Some creatures live on land, some in the sky, and some in the sea such as this one.

What makes Yoshi and the Mysterious Book so fascinating and fun on a design level is how each creature Yoshi stumbles across has its own unique hook--its own gameplay mechanic--and so many of these could be fleshed out for their own game! You get such a steady amount of new, innovative, mostly intuitive ideas and concepts that get iterated on within the same level. From riding a giant boar that rushes and can dig through rock and sand, to using a spider creature's web to swing across the stage like Spider-Man, to bouncing off seeds like a gigantic bouncy playground to reach new heights, to retreating from a pursuing hand of grass while encouraging it to interact with the environment in different ways, there's just so much on offer--and that's just the tip of the iceberg, really. 

Ingenuity, imagination, and creativity are three things important to have for making discoveries in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.

Heck, one level features a spore-like creature that literally can engulf an entire environment, spread on other creatures, and infest the whole level--which the latter is an actual discovery that Mr. E encourages Yoshi to attempt! That's one discovery of Yoshi's tasked by the book, yes, but it's also recommended by Mr. E to essentially exterminate an entire species from a totally different level, too! ...This book has some serious, unresolved problems!   

Yoshi can spread these spores all around the stage. ...Wasn't this the start of a certain Naughty Dog series?

So much of the joy found in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is experimenting with the environment and its creatures in ways that go off the beaten path and tests the limits of your imagination. The most worthwhile and rewarding discoveries are the ones that make you think, "there's no way the developers or designers thought to include THIS or would make me do THAT" and lo and behold, you accomplish that task and boom! A new discovery gets written onto the page/level. 

A fun little touch is that each discovery you find through exploration, experimentation, and so forth gets written onto the background of the level at the exact place you discovered it. Sure, the background can get a bit crowded and claustrophobic when myriad discoveries are written on the page, but they never overlap to make for a visual mess, thankfully. 

Chart all of your discoveries for each access in Mr. E's readable pages.
You can also name/rename each creature you come across in Yoshi's adventures.

If you feel you've exhausted your imagination and creativity, and have zero idea on how to squeeze more discoveries out of a given creature's level, Mr. E has helpful hints. With the press of the L button, Mr. E will give some semblance of guidance. Some are less obvious than others, but for more obvious hints, you can spend tokens collected in levels to gets new discovery recommendations and further hints, too. Tokens are practically given away in levels, so you'll pretty never be having to grind for them to get hints when needed.    

This creature is of note, both figuratively and literally, for being quite musical.

Of course, levels aren't just built around minor creature discoveries. Each level or creature habitat has its own major goal or objective that opens up the "exit' to the level. You can of course continue charting discoveries long after the exit reveals itself, and you can easily start a level over or end your exploration directly from the pause menu. The former--the Start Over option--is important as a fair number of discoveries can be missed and you can get "locked out of" in a given expedition. Starting the level over puts most everything back where it was, with all your current discoveries, of course, logged in already.

Like the discoveries and the creatures within Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, the major goal of each level has a massive variety, all of them different depending on the creature and the level. For instance, the tutorial creature, the Crazee Dayzee, is all about blooming three giant buds at the end of the level by having Yoshi carry the creature to the buds to bloom them. Another, feature the Shy Guy, has you searching a settlement for elusive, hidden, hiding Shy Guys, and taking them back to the settlement's center. Whereas another creature requires you to win an aerial race to unlock the level's exit.

For example, the main objective of this stage is to fully grow this plant by routinely watering its head.

Some levels, generally the sixth and final one in each chapter, have a boss battle to take on. Now, Yoshi does not a health bar or anything like that in this game. He takes a licking and keeps on ticking when "damaged". The boss battles are not about surviving, but these also serve as opportunities to chart even more creature discoveries in how you go about the battle. As the Hauger, that previously mentioned giant boar, you can actually juggle the boss you battle against multiple times in the air, and in doing so, you unlock a discovery. Needless to say, this is easier said than done, which is a testament to some of the skill-based challenges that some discoveries demand of the player. Also, something that not a typical younger player would be able to do, either! 

Creatures come in all shapes and sizes within Mr. E's colorful pages.

Not every creature's habitat can be exhausted of discoveries in Yoshi's first visit. Some creatures have second "acts" to their specific levels, usually designed around interacting with a second creature. These second acts have far fewer discoveries to find, as they usually require Yoshi to hash out the means to clear the level's main goal and open the exit. Some of the later objectives can be immensely challenging. 

So many discoveries and especially stuff in the post-game, requires a level of play that not many in the inexperienced camp will be able to accomplish easily. Heck, even my gamer self of 35+ years struggled with so many of them. Part of this is because some creatures possess unwieldy, somewhat non-intuitive controls which leads to some frustration, but also another part is that some of the discoveries require such careful precision or specifically ordered steps that they can be challenging to achieve.  

Speaking of the post-game, it was curious to me that I rolled the credits after the sixth chapter was beaten. That's because there's still more story-related content in the following four chapters that unlock after. You're not really done with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book's story until you roll the second set of credits and unlock the literal post-game from there. It makes me wonder how many potential players will roll the first credits and assume they're done, despite so many loose ends with the story, unique creatures, and chapters are available afterwards. 

There are many familiar creatures from Yoshi's past games (like these Goonies),
 but more often than not, you'll discover many brand-new ones.

Switching gears to more a mechanical level, Yoshi himself controls pretty much better than ever in his latest game. He basically has all of the skills he's learned from his Yoshi's Island days: egg-throwing, flutter-jumping, ground-pounding, to assist in examining creatures and making discoveries, and he also has a tail whip that can send smaller to medium-sized creatures riding his saddle. This offers even more in the way of interacting with creatures, such as one that will blow out ride-able bubbles when saddled on Yoshi, or again, the Crazee Dayzee, which will bloom flower buds when the creature passes over them while riding on Yoshi.

Between completing each chapter by logging all creature discoveries and collecting all Smiley Flowers, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book took me just over 40 hours to fully beat. It was mostly an enjoyable time, too, save for some struggles with controlling creatures here and there, trying to make heads or tails of the in-game hints, attempting to successfully clear certain, challenging discoveries, and the incredibly occasional (like, once every five hours) frame-rate freezes and hits. 

Yoshi takes some time to stop and smell (and say hi to) a flowery friend.

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book is very much a thumping good read--or rather, play. It presents so many unique ideas within each of its 50-60 creatures that it approaches Super Mario Galaxy-levels of "new stage, new concept". Such a feat is no small task, and it's certainly no small comparison either. Yoshi's latest absolutely floored me with its exponential amount of fresh ideas, stellar level design, myriad methods the game's systems interact with each other (in almost a "how does this game not break?!" kind of way), and how it constantly rewarded me for thinking outside of the box. It's not Yoshi's Island, nor does the game even itself set out to be, which may disappoint some, but for those who give Yoshi and the Mysterious Book an honest chance, you'll immensely enthralled, much like reading an exceptional page-turner of an actual book. Good-Feel and Nintendo authored an amazing game here.

[SPC Says: A-] 

SuperPhillip Central Celebrates 18 Years Online: My Super Sweet 18 Favorite Video Game Franchises

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Well, actually, they do if you read "18" as "16" because SuperPhillip Central has been online for 18 years as of today and not just 16 years. That notwithstanding and lame joke aside, it blows my mind that I started this blog back in 2008, and while my cadence of posts is nowhere near as high as when we started this journey together, I'm amazed SPC is still going and going strong. I believe nowadays SPC is less quantity and more quality of posts. ...Or at least that's what I tell myself!

At any rate, I wanted to do something relatively special for the site's 18th anniversary, and that desire turned into something I don't think I've actually done on this site: list some of my favorite video games franchises of all time in a comprehensive form. By no means can I sufficiently say that I ordered the following 18 franchises in a way that is perfect and best shows my love of each franchises listed, but it's my hope that it does a decent enough job all the same. 

Favorite game(s) in the series: Breath of Fire (SNES), Breath of Fire III (PS1, PSP)

We start off with an RPG series that is pretty much dead. Yes, the fire here has long since been extinguished. To be fair, I could have included myriad different RPG series to replace this one due to its prolonged inactivity--Ys, Golden Sun, Star Ocean, the Mana series, etc.--but Breath of Fire is important to me as an RPG series for one specific reason, albeit there are others, too.

The most important is that the series was the one that introduced me to RPGs to begin with, and that was due to the very first entry on the Super Nintendo. Not going to lie--it was also one of the first RPGs that moved me to tears with NPC Alan and villain Cerl's outcomes in the game. If you know, you know! Either way, the Breath of Fire series is one that lit the flame for my love of RPGs, and despite other RPG franchises outliving or having a better chance of being revived than Breath of Fire, it's still a favorite franchise of mine.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Resident Evil 4 (Multi)

We move on from one Capcom franchise to another, though this one has major endurance. It's Resident Evil, aka Biohazard. I cannot lie here either with this pick, as the OG Resident Evil 4 does a lot of the actual lifting here. The GameCube original was my first RE title, and it remains one of my favorite video games of all time. The recent series of modern remakes--2, 3, and yes, of course, 4--have only further influenced my admiration for the Resident Evil series, and this is also as someone whose passion isn't necessarily that of horror. Far be it, actually!

While not every game in the series has struck the same chord for me as Resident Evil 4, there are plenty of entries that I absolutely adore, such as the original Resident Evil and its GameCube remake, the modern RE2 and less so, RE3, and even spin-offs and side stories like the light-gun shooter Darkside Chronicles and Resident Evil Revelations. Somehow a gaming series led me on a path to enjoy survival horror, and I thank Leon and his seemingly infinite sexiness for being the lure to lead me to trying out the series in the first place.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Star Fox 64 (N64), Star Fox Assault (GCN)

It says a lot about my next favorite franchise where I really only love two games in the series--a series that has been around since the Super Nintendo and has seen multiple entries. Between the incredible Star Fox 64 (so incredible even Nintendo thinks it's worth remaking a second time, and I can't wait for the Switch 2 remake) and the much less so but still entertaining Star Fox Assault, I absolutely adore the Star Fox crew in all its team configurations. Whether it's on-rails, all-range mode, in the sky, on land, or even in the sea, the Star Fox series delivers constant thrills.

Not every entry hits the same highs as the two I listed, but I also have a smaller level of fondness for Star Fox Zero (trying something new and somewhat succeeding with its two screen approach) and Star Fox Command. The latter is one that I dislike its format and fan-fiction levels of story, but I appreciated that it actually attempted to move the series beyond the original Star Fox story, much like Star Fox Assault, which I enjoyed much more. I truly hope this Switch 2 game leads to something entirely brand-new for the Star Fox team, because as much as I'm hyped for this remake and a chance to replay one of my favorite games in a glorious coat of new paint, I yearn for something new for this series.

Favorite game(s) in the series: F-Zero X (N64), F-Zero GX (GCN)

We've got BOOST POWER now with this next favorite franchise of mine. F-Zero started me off with a need for hyperspeed, futuristic racing in Mode 7-based awesomeness with the Super Nintendo original. Since then, the series has had two of my favorite fully 3D racing games of all time with the fantastic F-Zero X on the Nintendo 64 and then the awesome but incredibly difficult F-Zero GX on the GameCube. I wear the accomplishment of my near-complete save file of GX on the GameCube like a letter on a varsity jacket.  

Even the so-called lesser entries like F-Zero Maximum Velocity, F-Zero: GP Legend, and the once Japan-only F-Zero Climax--all on the Game Boy Advance--delighted with their OG F-Zero-like graphics, but they also introduced a lot new to the series as well. An entirely fresh cast in Maximum Velocity, a multiple path story mode in GP Legend, and the first and only track creator in a 2D-based F-Zero game with Climax. Heck, I'm appreciative of F-Zero 99, the Battle Royale-style Switch live-service game, and I hope it has succeeded to show Nintendo there's definitely a market for another racer from Nintendo that isn't Mario Kart.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Pokemon Blue Version (GB)

Pokemon is a special series to me, and that's one that once transcended the games for me, as well. While my Pokemania has long since died down, when the series hit North American shores, I lived and practically breathed Pokemon. I played my copy of Pokemon Blue like a religion--catching all 150 Pokemon eventually upon finally trading via link cable with a friend--I watched the anime, I got sets of the playing cards, I got toys in a desire to catch 'em all (or rather have my mom buy 'em all, in this case!), and I even drew my own comic starring my own inserted character. Yes, Ash Ketchum may catch 'em, but Phil Gotem always got 'em. 

By the Diamond/Pearl era on the Nintendo DS, my love for the series saw itself initiate a burnout period. Like most prolonged hyperfixations from my autism, I moved on from Pokemon, and I wouldn't return save for playing some spin-offs here and there. I'd still collect the mainline entries, but I didn't have the motivation to fully go gung-ho with them like past installments. I'm back into the franchise as of Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu!, which really hit my gen 1 loving nostalgia, but it's understandably not anywhere near the level I had as a kid. Still, I will always appreciate Pokemon for expanding my creativity, sparking such immense joy in me when it debuted, and it doesn't hurt that the series shares my birthday, as well!

Favorite game(s) in the series: Banjo-Kazooie (N64, XBLA)

Next up is a series that, like a bear, is currently in hibernation. Hopefully that won't be for too much longer, whether that's wishful thinking on my part or not, as there is a strong contingent of fans wanting to see the bear and bird pair of Banjo and Kazooie return to starring in a new game. 

The original Banjo-Kazooie spoke to me like no other 3D platformer has, offering tight level design, a manageable and enjoyable amount of collectibles, a perfect mix of exploration and platforming, and it remains one of my favorite 3D platformers to this day. Rare would make a sequel with Banjo-Tooie, but that one, while still delightfully fun, didn't hit the same highs for me. It was a bit too bloated an experience, which added frustrating friction to the game. Future installments like Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge on the GBA took the collect-a-thon fun to an isometric view, while Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts wasn't what most wanted, I found it a worthy entry all the same. That's especially if you take the game for what it is and not what fans like myself wanted it to be instead--as hard as that can be to do.

The pair's most recent appearance in a much beloved, well-known Nintendo crossover series was such a hype-worthy moment for so many fans and just the gaming community in general, so here's hoping Xbox sees a future for Banjo and Kazooie. 

Favorite game(s) in the series: Hot Shots Golf Fore! (PS2), Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 (PSP)

Whether you knew it as Hot Shots Golf or know it now like our European friends have since its inception as Everybody's Golf, this cartoony, arcadey golf series is a big favorite of mine. I love to dabble in video game golf a great deal, despite not really caring for the real life sport, and that's especially so when it comes to less sim-like, more fantastical golf games. Everybody's Golf is a series that meets me halfway between the wackiness of a Mario Golf and a more sim-like approach like a PGA game. It's the type of series that does include lots of sim elements, but also has that charm and personality that enticed me so much back when I first tried out the series with Hot Shots Golf Fore! on the PlayStation 2.

As an aside, is it lame to admit I fanboy'd hard when the announcement of Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots happened during a Nintendo Direct last year? I honestly thought the series had hit the sand trap in the sky for good and had been put out to pasture due to Clap Hanz (the original developer of the series) and Sony parting ways. While that game didn't sink all its putts and shanked some of its shots (I should go back and review that entry, now that I think about it!), it was great to have the Hot Shots crew back in a brand-new game. Here's to more hopefully in the future!

Favorite game(s) in the series: Kirby and the Forgotten Land (NSW), Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (NSW), Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)

Moving from the green to the pink, specifically Nintendo's adorable pink puffball, we have the Kirby series as number 11 on my list. Kirby is comfort gaming for me, offering breezy gameplay and accessibility, but under that layer for those who dare to dive deeper is one of challenging side content and major intricacies in most games' designs. 

Whether we're talking about mainline adventures like Kirby Super Star and the most recent one, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, or spin-offs like Kirby Air Ride and Kirby Air Riders, there's so much charm and delightful whimsy in the world of Kirby. Though, as fans know, there's also a lot of deep lore, as well, and some truly horrifying Eldritch-like creatures, too. Proof that Kirby as a series embodies the concepts of "more than meets the eye" and "never judging a book by its cover". 

Kirby used to be a series I appreciated but took for granted, but especially with the franchise's first fully 3D entry with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I've learned to absolutely love and adore the little pink protagonist with the insatiable appetite. 

Favorite game(s) in the series: Metroid Prime (GCN, Wii, NSW), Super Metroid (SNES)

The mother [brain] of a genre, Metroid's latest may have fallen short especially compared to the impossible hype it presented potential players and major fans of the franchise, but as a whole, there have been a multitude more victories than stumbles for the series. My first Metroid games were released on the same day: Metroid Prime and the GameCube and Metroid Fusion on the Game Boy Advance. It was a one-two punch of awesomeness in both 3D and 2D forms respectively, and one hell of a way to be introduced to the franchise.

Since then, I've been a major fan of this particular type of platformer--exploring a menacing world, growing stronger through finding new abilities and items to access new corners of said world, and blazing paths through old areas that once seemed full of hostility when I originally encountered them. Metroid Prime remains a positively transformative experience for me, and I sing its praises (sometimes literally through song, even!) to this day. I kick myself for missing out on Super Metroid as a kid, but am so glad I have had the opportunity to right that wrong and become a massive Metroid fan since.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (PS2), Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2), Ratchet & Clank: Future Tools of Destruction (PS3)

A PlayStation series from the heyday of the PS2 era, where I believe Sony's first party studios were at their most creative and risk-taking, Ratchet & Clank remains a steady series in PlayStation's catalog. Sadly, so many PlayStation franchises have either been discontinued or otherwise ended, which is disappointing to someone who loves PlayStation's legacy titles. 

Enough about that grievance, though--let's talk what made this series so special to me. My first Ratchet & Clank game was Going Commando, and I've been a super fan of Insomniac Games and its lombax and robot buddy pair ever since. Between the absurd amount of inventive weaponry that gets stronger as you continually use them, the creative level of gadgets on display with each entry, superb level design with myriad secrets and challenges within them, and characters and stories that are enjoyable from beginning to end, I love Ratchet & Clank and am so glad it has stood the test of time.

While the edge of the franchise--if you want to call it that--has dulled down quite a bit from its inception in 2002, and many of the games can feel somewhat similar between each other, there's no question that Ratchet & Clank keeps going because it's much beloved and has a corps of fans enjoying it to this day--myself included.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Donkey Kong Bananza (NSW), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES), Diddy Kong Racing (N64)

It's on like... like... oh, damn, what's it on like? I forget! At any rate, Donkey Kong (that's it!! That's what it's on like!) takes the number eight spot as one of my favorite franchises with a storied history. From Nintendo's legal battle with Universal, to nowadays being friendly with Universal and having his own section of a theme park, Donkey Kong has never been better. With a leading exclusive on the Nintendo Switch 2 from Nintendo EAD, the masters of the platformer (in this writer's opinion, at least!), with last summer's Donkey Kong Bananza, five excellent 2D and 2.5D platformers with Rare's Donkey Kong Country trilogy and Retro Studios' own DKC Returns duology, several enjoyable spin-offs like the King of Swing duology, and also the classic Donkey Kong as the "villain" games with his tried and true namesake, there is a lot to love about Nintendo's big ape.

And even though he doesn't have a role or even a mention in Diddy Kong Racing, how can I not include that game starring Donkey Kong's best bud, Diddy?! It's only one of my favorite kart racing games of all time, and Nintendo certainly should consider at the very least putting it on NSO or better yet, crafting a remake or sequel! 

No matter if he's in the role of the top banana, a villain, or not even in a starring role at all, Donkey Kong's 40+ year history makes him one of the most iconic characters in video games, and that has been through multiple variations, art styles, and designs. He's changed with the times, and his importance to gaming history is rivaled in size only by his massive weight!

 
Favorite game(s) in the series: Animal Crossing (GCN), Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW) 

I love any time a game in my next favorite video game franchise casually rolls into my life, because I know said life will be overtaken by the calm, comfy, cozy, lovely vibes of a new Animal Crossing game. Sure, I may never stick with them for a full year straight like I did with the original when it quietly hit North America on the GameCube, but I'll always rack up hundreds upon hundreds of hours playing and enjoying my time in my virtual Central City. 

I greatly enjoy meeting and greeting new villagers, and I also remember greatly being disengaged and disappointed when favorite villagers spontaneously left in the OG Animal Crossing, too. I adore simple things like collecting furniture, growing my collection, amassing wealth to pay off Tom Nook, and of course, the online features with friends that debuted with Wild World on the Nintendo DS. 

Between the series' various entries, I've easily put in over 3,000 hours of playtime across them all, and this was never wasted time. I was always doing something fun, working towards a goal, or building up my town--particularly with the awesome additions of customization as seen in New Leaf and especially New Horizons. Animal Crossing, like Kirby before it, is comfort gaming. It was an immense help for many during 2020 and the pandemic, and it continues to give me the very best vibes with each and every entry.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (GEN), Sonic Adventure 2 (Multi), Sonic Mania (Multi), Sonic X Shadow Generations (Multi), Sonic Racing CrossWorlds (Multi)

A blue streak speeds by, and it's none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Say what one will about the Blue Blur's adjustment from 2D to 3D (it's been less than stellar, in my opinion), the highs are positively magical for this series. I was--if my picks for favorite franchises didn't give this away already--a Nintendo kid growing up. My family owned the NES and then the Super Nintendo, but that didn't mean I didn't have the option to play SEGA stuff. My dad had a SEGA Genesis at his house, and of course, one of the first games I was able to experience on that system was the original Sonic the Hedgehog. As they say, the rest was history.

While I definitely don't enjoy every Sonic game (looking at you, 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog, for starters), I do my best to at least give them a chance and promptly "suffer" through them quickly. The winners do have some high highs, and the losers of the Sonic series certainly have the lowest lows. It's quite the uneven franchise, but it speaks to how popular the idea and character of Sonic are. With so many "duds" of games, his popularity continued, he literally endured. And now, we're in a Sonic Renaissance with awesome gems like Sonic Mania, Sonic X Shadow Generations, and awesome racers like Sonic Racing CrossWorlds. It's a totally way past cool time to be a Sonic fan.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Final Fantasy IV (SNES), Final Fantasy VI (SNES), Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GCN)

There's something about Final Fantasy that speaks to me. And it's not just because I'm an old fart comparatively to most video game players nowadays. Sure, one can easily argue Final Fantasy as a franchise has failed to hook new, younger generations and pretty much exclusively has the older set--boomers, if you will--as fans. 

Either way, Final Fantasy was an important part of my childhood. After my love for RPGs took off with the aforementioned Breath of Fire, I turned to a little game called Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo (aka Final Fantasy IV), and my admiration for RPGs and Final Fantasy grew further from there. While I don't have many of the mainline games beaten, it's really the spin-offs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo's various games, and heck, even the Monster Hunter clone Final Fantasy Explorers, that appeal to me the most. 

Final Fantasy as a franchise continues even with all of its stumbles and failings. It's still an event when a numbered Final Fantasy gets released in gaming, and it's a franchise that is constantly reinventing what being a "Final Fantasy" game means. Looking at the vast difference between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX, or even Final Fantasy XV compared to Final Fantasy XVI, there's an entry for essentially everyone. If you don't like what was presented in one game, just wait for the next--it'll be completely different. While it's not always a positive reinvention, it definitely is always an interesting one.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NSW)

We're not done with Final Fantasy's Cloud Strife yet. Or Sonic. Or Kirby. Or Star Fox. Or Donkey Kong. Or... etc., etc. That's because they're all within Super Smash Bros., a fighting game franchise that transcends its gameplay and has become a legitimate event in gaming. Every modern reveal gets a massive amount of gravitas to it. It's a literal event. That's because it's not just Nintendo's history being celebrated anymore with the Super Smash Bros. series--it's pretty much ALL of gaming history being celebrated now with this series.

Masahiro Sakurai and his team show dedication, love, and appreciation for each character, stage, and feature included and referenced within the series, and it absolutely, positively shows. It helps that the games themselves are so mechanically brilliant and utterly addicting. 

What started with a Nintendo 64 game with a roster of eight base characters and four unlockables (and I was surprised that not even Nintendo Power Magazine gave this game a dedicated cover story back in the day) has since evolved into a massive collection of tremendous star power in gaming. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the culmination of all of this, and it seems quite unlikely it will ever happen again. Still, the future is exciting for the franchise, and I'm eager to see what Super Smash Bros. as a concept looks like and materializes as on the Switch 2.

Favorite game(s) in the series: Mega Man 2 (NES), Mega Man 3 (NES), Mega Man X (SNES), Mega Man X4( PS1, SAT), Mega Man 8 (PS1, SAT)

We've arrived in the top three! Well, I'll try not to dilly-dally then, because there are robots to battle, Mavericks to eliminate, and viruses to exterminate with another long-running franchise: Mega Man. We celebrated MEGA MAY all last month with a steady surge of Mega Man-related retro reviews. Maybe it was apparent that I do really enjoy a Mega Man game from time to time!

It's certainly a series that demands patience and perseverance, especially certain entries and sub-series. Like Final Fantasy before it, Mega Man is a series that also reinvents itself, too. While not differing between each game of the same sub-series, it's the actual sub-series where Mega Man vastly changes things up. Mega Man X was an edgier, more difficult, much more action-packed version of the classic Mega Man games, which saw the Legends sub-series introduce full 3D and Zelda-like gameplay. From there, the Battle Network series brought RPG-like gameplay to the franchise.

It seems like an eternity ago when everywhere you looked you encountered a new Mega Man game. I've said this before, but we didn't know how good we had it. Now, it's like trying to squeeze oil out of a Mettool--it's just not happening that fast. That said, I'm excited for Mega Man: Dual Override next year, and the yelp I let out when that was revealed might have woke my neighbors. So, here's to a bright future for the Blue Bomber! 

Favorite game(s) in the series: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES), The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB, GBC, NSW), The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 3DS), The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA), The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (NSW)

My penultimate pick for favorite video game franchise is none other than The Legend of Zelda. It's a tried and true series that even with my least favorite entries in the franchise, still manage to instill a sense of exciting and ultimately worthwhile discovery and exploration within. 

The best Legend of Zelda games are the ones that masterfully blend story, gameplay, puzzles, world and dungeon design, and presentation together for one superb, stellar package. The fact that so many Zelda games could be described by most of those traits is an astounding quality and realization all to itself.

From my very first Zelda game I beat, A Link to the Past, I was hooked on the franchise. I remember drawing on the back of my mom's spare blueprints she brought home from work in order to create my own "dungeons" and "world maps". I was utterly immersed in the land of Hyrule and The Legend of Zelda series as a whole. 

It doesn't matter what amalgamation of the series it is: console, handheld, realistic, cel-shaded, light and whimsical, dark and foreboding--whatever it looks like or is--no Zelda game has ever really disappointed me to a point of regret in playing it. Sure, there are some that I don't have a massive urge to return to, but even those I can appreciate. 

When all the elements come together, when a boss is lastly felled in epic fashion, when those "ah-ha!" moments arrive to me as I finally stumble on a difficult puzzle's solution, when a particularly poignant moments pulls at the heartstrings, when a clever secret is discovered after some careful exploration and a little bit of curiosity, and when a theme swells and makes for an ultimately magical moment, it makes for a lineup of games that is truly legendary. 

Favorite game(s) in the series: Super Mario World (SNES), Super Mario Galaxy (Wii), Super Mario 3D World (Wii U), Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NSW), Mario Golf (N64), Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS), Mario Tennis (N64)

Really, what else could it have been?! I've essentially exhausted every other notable series out there that I cover on SuperPhillip Central, so it fits that the number one favorite video game franchise of mine is none other than Mario. The other franchises here were at a bit of a disadvantage, as I'm counting not only Mario's mainline 2D and 3D adventures, but also all the spin-offs as well. I'm specifically talking about my personal faves of that bunch: Mario Kart and Mario Golf! That's not even mentioning the RPG franchises: Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi or all of the other sports Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom crew participate in.

I've been a Nintendo fan since my first game that I can fully remember playing: Super Mario Bros. 2. I always played as Princess Toadstool for her floating ability was perfect for a fledgling young player like myself. Did it make getting past all those Flurries on level 4-2 easier? Absolutely not, as I'd routinely die there and get a game over as a child, but the memories are strong and more importantly, the memories are good.

Since that game, Mario mania took over. Basically, any game with Mario in it--even Mario is Missing--I had to play growing up. That's sort of continued to this day. Mario's the strongest he's been in popularity, and most of us wait with bated breath for both some Mario Kart World DLC and more so, the introduction of Mario's latest 3D adventure on the Switch 2. 

Whether dying to the very first Goomba in Super Mario Bros., encountering a strange purple mushroom for the first time and dying from it in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as part of Super Mario All-Stars, finding out our princess is, in fact, in another castle, meeting and taking a first ride on Yoshi in Super Mario World, playing my very first fully 3D game with Super Mario 64, enjoying a summer vacation in Isle Delfino, enjoyably discovering what's old is new with the New Super Mario Bros. line of games, venturing into galaxies unknown, hopping into a kart, taking to the tennis court, playing a round (or several) of golf, running the bases, playing some b-ball, or one of the multitude of experiences that I shared with Mario for the first time, these situations and scenarios shaped me as a gamer the most. I'm deeply appreciative of Mario and Nintendo in general for helping to build my love of gaming, creativity, and imagination. It only makes sense that Mario would be my favorite gaming franchise due to these reasons, and for just being damn excellent gaming experiences most of the time, too!

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With that, this special article reaches its conclusion! I hope you enjoyed this extensive look at some of my favorite video game franchises of all time. There are many more I greatly appreciate, and much like those franchises, I greatly appreciate YOU and your support of my writing, my opinions, and my blog, SuperPhillip Central. It's been a wonderful 18 years, and I hope we can all come together next year for the 19th anniversary as well.

In the meantime, today is also the Summer Game Fest showcase, so I'm certain I'll be sharing some new trailers tonight on the site. 

Thank you again for your continued support, and have yourselves a SUPER day. 

God of War Laufey (PS5) Gameplay Reveal Trailer

God of War Laufey is real, and the tail-end of today's State of Play showcased approximately 20 minutes of pure gameplay for the title. Thankfully, the seemingly never-ending black screen at the beginning of the trailer did not really or overly contribute to the gameplay time total. Either way, the wife of Kratos gets her own adventure, and it looks absolutely stellar so far. 

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Thieve (PS5, XBS, PC) Release Date Trailer

Take flight and engage in sensational, epic dogfights like never before with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Thieve. Bandai Namco's long running--or rather--long flying series is due to soar into the skies on October 2nd, 2026. To incentivize pre-orders, those who jump in early will get Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War as a digital download. 

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis (Multi) Official Release Date Trailer

Lara Croft is back, and this time it's a remake of the original Tomb Raider with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. Ms. Croft has her trademark dual pistols, lovely sense of fashion, and her rapier wit and sass to take on anything, anyone, and from the trailer, any T-Rex as well. Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Steam on February 12th, 2027.