The "Worst" Things About SuperPhillip Central's Favorite Games V

They may be some of my favorite games released over the past few years, but that doesn't absolve them from having some of their own issues! Welcome to the fifth installment of an article series where I take a gander at the worst things about games that I really love. Some of these are big problems that hurt the overall experience while some could be categorized as nitpicks in general. Some might even be problems I have with games that supersede the more common problems other games have! Whatever the case may be, it's time to be a more discerning player, and pick out the problems I have with these five favorites of mine!

For previous installments of this article series, look no further than these four links:

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW)

We begin with a game that I absolutely adore and continue to adore--Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Since its launch on March 20th, I've yet to miss a day of playing, planning out my island, chatting with the locals, digging up fossils, shaking trees, building up my bank account, etc. With a little over two months of play now, I've amassed a list of negatives about the game, such as tools breaking, no ability to mass craft items, or the problems with sharing an island with more than one player.

That said, the thing that I consider the worst about Animal Crossing: New Horizons, at least in how it affects me as a player to the game, is the online. Between countless communication errors I faced, interference when attempting to travel to another island, to the ever-so-slow and tedious takeoff and landing procedures, hopping online can be a serious pain. This is compounded when having multiple people visit your island or you visit theirs. With up to seven other players able to visit one's island, the constant start and stop interruptions and waiting make it so I dread hopping online.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NSW)

There's no doubt in my mind that Masahiro Sakurai and company weren't joking when giving the latest Super Smash Bros. the "Ultimate" subtitle. It has almost everything a Smash fan could like for a fantastic installment--worthwhile single player content, meaty modes, all of the characters and most of the stages from past games, and plenty to see and do. While most would go after the low-hanging fruit of the game--the horrid online net code--and they would be more than within their right to do so, my pick for the worst thing about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is something far more trivial in the grand scheme of things.

While Spirits allow for more franchise representation with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it still pains me that there is an absence of trophies. Now, for most players, poor, sometimes broken net code would be much more important than the lack of trophies detailing characters and providing brief snippets of information about their pasts, but for me, online isn't something I'm really interested in. It's part of the reason I rated the game so highly two years ago, despite the lackluster online. Meanwhile, for me, trophies being gone was something that hurt my experience, even with understanding the reason for their removal and appreciating their replacement, Spirits.

Super Mario Maker 2 (NSW)

We reach the midway point of "The Worst Things About SuperPhillip Central's Favorite Games V" with Super Mario Maker 2, a game that I loved so much last year that it received runner-up for Game of the Year at the SPC Best of 2019 Awards. One of the reasons it didn't quite reach Game of the Year status was the shoddy online multiplayer, which has since been fixed. However, a far greater problem has yet to be resolved with Super Mario Maker 2.

This is the discovery of good levels. As anyone can tell you, it's nigh impossible to reliable find high quality levels within Super Mario Maker 2 itself. Instead, players have to resort to outside the game, such as Reddit and gaming forums, to discover levels that they can enjoy. There is a lot of poorly conceived, slopped-together levels created by players in the game, so searching for great ones is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, or in my case, a creative analogy in a sea of cliched ones.

What alleviated a lot of the burden in Super Mario Maker 2's predecessor, the Wii U original Mario Maker, was the Super Mario Maker Bookmark website. This allowed easy access to searching for levels, picking prospective levels you wanted to play, "bookmarking" them to play them later, and was just a godsend for discovering great levels. Once again, it is just amazingly bad in how Nintendo took yet another step backwards with regards to its online system for one of its games. The lack of a Bookmark website for Super Mario Maker 2 really hurt the online community, and it continues to do so to this day.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (PS4, XB1, NSW)

We move on from Mario to Crash Bandicoot, and between Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled, it's a heated contest as to which is superior. There's no question in my mind that for solo players, CTR is far better with its amazing Adventure mode, abundance of tracks, Grand Prix events, and other single player content. However, when it comes to other categories, I'd rate Mario Kart 8 Deluxe higher.

One such category is accessibility, and this is what I consider the worst part of Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it's relatively easy for a new player to pick up and play the game with its easy-to-learn drift system and optional steer assist and auto-acceleration tools. It's far more approachable than CTR, which suffers from a gulf in skills between players just starting to veteran players.

CTR features a three button press drift system that grants you a greater boost for successful and successive taps of the boost button during a drift. This can result in massive gains of speed and even more massive leads for players that achieve so-called "Sacred Fire" and its even more powerful version, "Ultra Sacred Fire", where you essentially have a tremendous amount of boost energy in reserve to help you continually boost entire laps and races if performed correctly.

There's such a disparity between new players and even somewhat competent players like myself that trying to play with friends locally found them growing bored with CTR immediately. They wanted something more fun and easier to pick up and play, which I can attest that Nitro-Fueled is not that simple for pick up and play sessions. We eventually moved on to Mario Kart after a short while, and yes, as you can imagine, my friends enjoyed themselves more. Now, that doesn't mean that Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is a lesser game. After all, I've professed its greatness on SuperPhillip Central multiple times already as it is. It just has a high learning curve, which it makes it difficult to bring new players into immediately.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC)

Our final game today is another colorful title: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. Imagine if you will: playing through 95% of the game, enjoying yourself like mad, collecting all that there is to collect in each of the game's well designed levels, bashing baddies, exploring the wonderfully creative 3D overworld, and just making progress like crazy. And then all of a sudden the difficulty jumps to such an insane level that all that progress is stopped as if you crashed into a wall. All that momentum and fun gone. That level, my friends, is the titular Impossible Lair.

The Impossible Lair can be challenged at any time in the game. In fact, it's the first level you play, and you're meant to fail it. (Though it is, in fact, possible to clear that first time!) As you advance through the overworld of the game, discover levels, and beat said levels, you acquire Bees that you can take with you into the lair, serving as extra hits you can take. Now, this is a fiendishly difficult final challenge, and it greatly ups the difficulty level immensely compared to everything else in the game.

I can only imagine how frustrating it was for players of the latest Yooka-Laylee to find their runs through the game and subsequent enjoyment of the game stopped to a dead halt due to being unable to complete this ultimate test of platforming. Even with a full supply of Bees and the new addition of checkpoints, the Impossible Lair is tough! I don't blame players for being a bit salty for being unable to see the game through to completion, as it would make me annoyed. I know for a fact that despite multiple runs ending in abject failure, I finally persevered and felt immensely proud of myself for beating this ultimate challenge. Some players won't have the patience to continue to play this 15 minute+ level after failing again and again, and that's totally understandable. For those that do, however, they'll find a hefty sense of accomplishment for doing so--take it from me.

The Worst Things About SuperPhillip Central's Favorite Games III

From its first appearance two summers ago to its most recent earlier this year, this article series of SuperPhillip Central has been detailing the most prominent issues I have with some of my favorite video games of all time. Many of these games I struggle to personally find a glaring fault with, so occasionally a small gripe will have to suffice. Oh, woe is me! Once again, I'm back with a look at another five of my favorite games that aren't quite perfect but still beloved by yours truly. This edition we delve into franchises like The Legend of Zelda, LittleBigPlanet, and Mega Man.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

I never thought I'd see a 2D Zelda (well, top-down Zelda, but I shouldn't get obnoxiously technical here) that would rival one of my favorite Zelda games of all time, A Link to the Past. Then again, it is rather logical that the game heavily inspired and taking heavy cues from Link to the Past would become one of my favorite games ever. The game I'm talking about is of course the Nintendo 3DS' The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Even the name is a reference to the 1992 classic.

I replayed A Link Between Worlds for a Review Redux on SuperPhillip Central last month, and I came to form a revelation that the 3DS exclusive was a bridge between the Zelda games that stuck with series conventions and the Switch and Wii U's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game that vastly strayed away from series conventions. A Link Between Worlds started this with its item rental system allowing for players to fully explore both kingdoms of Hyrule and Lorule, venturing to any area or dungeon they wanted as long as they had the necessary item on them through the rental (later purchase) system. This glimpse of freedom in this modern Zelda game would greatly expand with Breath of the Wild, opening wide the eyelids of series fans from that small glimpse of freedom to something absolutely, positively much wider.

Nonetheless, while I absolutely did enjoy the new take in A Link Between Worlds to shake up the conventions and formula of the Zelda series, it wasn't without an issue that resulted from said shakeup. Dungeons in A Link Between Worlds, most prominently in Lorule, could be played in almost any order (except the Desert Palace, which could never be played first). This was due to being able to go wherever you wanted as long as you had the correct item on you, rented or purchased from Ravio, the rental shop owner.

Because dungeon order was pretty much up to you, that meant that the developers and designers of the game needed to accommodate this with said rental system. You could get the associated item tied to the dungeon you wanted to go to, but it also meant that that dungeon's challenges were limited. Generally, in a dungeon, if you got stuck on a puzzle, the answer was usually just to use Link's wall merge ability or the item meant for that dungeon. Same goes with defeating most enemies and the boss, of course. Combine this with the regular quest being a tad easy (but not the unlockable Hero Mode), and you have a fair fault with the game. I still can't help but love it, though!

LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)

It's truly a shame that Sony Computer Entertainment allowed the LittleBigPlanet franchise to lose its steam relatively quickly. Debuting on the PlayStation 3, the series saw three mainline releases, two portable entries, a kart racing spin-off, and a mobile game before fizzling out. LittleBigPlanet 3 released across two platforms, the PS3 and PS4, and was so borked at launch tech-wise, that it pretty much put the franchise out to pasture.

That notwithstanding, the LittleBigPlanet series has given me some of my most cherished young adult life gaming memories, and my favorite of the series happens to be LittleBigPlanet 2. The game brought with it a new story, grander and more sophisticated levels, more customization options, and an even more improved and updated creation system. This is actually what I consider the weak link in the LittleBigPlanet 2 chain, but hardly because it was a disaster or lacking options.

In fact, it's the total opposite. With all of the new features, modes, options, and gadgets available to aspiring level makers, video game creators, and everyone else alike, LittleBigPlanet 2's creator was a bit too overwhelming in terms of being crammed with all of its features. Of course this meant that the options were many and the possibilities were nearly endless, but it also meant that even the simplest of levels were more complicated to create, especially when the original editor in the very first LittleBigPlanet was so beginner friendly. Sitting through dozens upon dozens of video tutorials, no matter how charming, was hardly a prospect many potential creators wanted to entertain. LittleBigPlanet 3 only further complicated the creation tools with an exponential amount of more options, but at least the devs added interactive tutorials (one of my favorite additions from that game) for players to stay engaged with.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U)

The Wii U was an absolute failure for Nintendo, but it did provide not only a way for the company to rework the idea for the very successful Nintendo Switch but also some great games. One such great game was Retro Studios' Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. While Nintendo fans especially flipped that another Donkey Kong Country game was Retro's latest game and not something amazing, Tropical Freeze turned out to be not just "another Donkey Kong Country game" but one of the best in the series and one of the best 2D platformers ever made. With immensely satisfying but tricky platforming that I definitely don't recommend for the easily angered, superb level and environmental design, and some of the best platforming action sequences in the genre, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was a magnificent display from both Nintendo and Retro Studios.

Speaking of the Wii U's failure, though (just so you didn't think I brought it up for no good reason), the system had many reasons why it failed, and one of those was not even Nintendo itself knowing what to do with the Wii U GamePad. This was evident with Tropical Freeze, where the only thing that showed up on the screen during gameplay was.... get ready... pitch blackness. There wasn't even a screen to show HUD elements like KONG letters, puzzle pieces collected, or a measurement of how far the player was in a level or how close they were to checkpoints. I'm talking about something similar to what the Nintendo DS's New Super Mario Bros. had on its bottom screen. The fact that Retro Studios had nothing meant that the defining item of the Wii U had no value in one of Nintendo's own big releases at that time, making it no better than a smaller, more comfortable controller that didn't add a hefty price to the overall system.

Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)

The original Star Fox 64 is pretty much perfect for me when it comes to what it was when it released back in 1997. Of course, I could be petty and pick on the game's technical problems, but I can't keep adding Nintendo 64 games on this article series due to that. Instead, I'd like to focus on Star Fox 64's remake, released early on in the Nintendo 3DS's life. It's not too confusing to see why Nintendo went with Star Fox 64 3D for the title, as the game was rebuilt for the system using the 3DS's then-heavily marketed auto-stereoscopic 3D effect to impress players as they wage war with Andross and his forces.

The solo mode is just as addicting and fun as ever, making you want to perform run after run to get high scores, badges, and go different routes in the Lylat System. While Team Star Fox's galactic adventure is mostly the same, something completely altered is the multiplayer mode. The dogfighting concept is very much the same, but it's been updated with new improvements and vastly different maps. It also uses the Nintendo 3DS's inner-facing camera to show players' faces in-game, overhead their individual Arwings. This meant you could see the reaction of fellow players as you pursued them, pelted them with fire, and had them blown into smithereens.

The joy of Star Fox 64's original multiplayer was pretty much here in the Nintendo 3DS update. However, one crucial element was complicated: playing with other people. Back in 1997, playing some Star Fox 64 on your Nintendo 64 with some buds was easy: you just sat around the TV -- maybe on a couch -- and shared the screen together. Star Fox 64 3D makes this a hard proposition to play with friends by virtue of being on a handheld. Every player obviously needs their own Nintendo 3DS, but every player also needs their own copy of the game as well. Somehow getting a group of four friends with their own 3DSes and copies of the game was a bit of an issue with most players.


The complete absence of online play possibilities meant that few players of the game fully got to enjoy Star Fox 64 3D's multiplayer experience to the highest level. To put things in perspective, this was at a time where a few months before Star Fox 64 3D's release, a launch game for the system already had full online play, a 3DS port of Super Street Fighter IV. Seeing a game from Nintendo with multiplayer functionality this early on released on the Nintendo 3DS without online seemed like such a blown and missed opportunity, and it was remarkably disappointing for players like myself as well who couldn't enjoy the multiplayer otherwise.

Mega Man X4 (PS1, SAT)

Alongside the original Mega Man X on the Super Nintendo, Mega Man X4 on the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn (I played the former version) remains my favorite of the X sub-series of Mega Man games. It was a bigger, badder, bolder Mega Man X game, featuring an obvious jump in graphics and sound, fully voiced anime cutscenes, lots of replayability, and terrific, true blue Mega Man X action. Some critics at the time felt some derision with the game due to X4 not doing much to alter the formula, but if it ain't broken, don't fix it, right? After all, we've seen how Capcom tried to innovate with the series with X6 and X7 later on, and those turned out to be massive misfires. (Though that's not to argue that the series should not ever have experimented, of course.)

It just seemed weird to me that the game was chastised by some for being more of the same when Mega Man X4 finally introduced Zero as a fully 100%-of-the-time playable character. He had the same levels, but the story was different from X's, he had a boss battle separate from X, and he learned new saber techniques as opposed to copying a boss's ability like X would. The shift in hardware also was a huge change on a superficial level, but it further wowed players who had made the jump from the Super Nintendo trilogy.

So if the main point of contention that most critics of the time of Mega Man X4's release was a lack of innovation, what is my bother with the game? Well, it's a really small one, but one which made many of those same critics gripe as well. I'm no doubt talking about the voice acting. However, unlike those critics, I can only complain that the voice acting -- such as the most infamous line of the game, "What am I fighting FOOOOOOOR?!!" -- is so bad that it's good. I'm sure many of you out there who've played the game would agree as well. It's not awful like most of the voice work from Capcom's previous PS1 and Saturn release, Mega Man 8, but it is pretty gnarly... in a hilarious, ironic way.

The Worst Things About SuperPhillip Central's Favorite Games II

The easiest thing to do when reviewing bad games is ripping them to shreds, taking all of their faults and going through each, one by one, eviscerating them. However, it's much harder to look at games that you have a great love for, perhaps irrationally so due to them being an important part of one's childhood, and picking out the things that just don't work so well in them. That's what this series of articles from SuperPhillip Central is all about: figuring out what didn't work-- no matter how small-- in the games that I love so much.

If you'd like to see five of my favorites from the first installment of this article series, click this link.

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

We begin with a game that has the gaming world excited for its upcoming remake, though with Square Enix's history, we might be sitting here five years from now still waiting for it (okay, okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration). Of course, I'm talking about Final Fantasy VII, one of the most popular entries in the storied Final Fantasy series and many players' first foray into the franchise.

The game has a lot of variety to it, an excellent story, and one of the best casts of characters in the entire series. Everything from the memorable locales, then-impressive visuals in both gameplay and CG cinematic form, the stellar Nobuo Uematsu-composed soundtrack, and rewarding Materia system makes for a wonderful and lengthy RPG that seldom outwears its welcome.

Certainly, it was an arduous proposition to come up with something truly bad about Final Fantasy VII, but then I remembered something that stops me from regularly replaying the game. After the intense and excellent introduction of VII inside Midgar, many players found themselves bewildered by the fact that Midgar was just the tip of Final Fantasy VII's iceberg. They were thrust into a world map that meant that Midgar was but a small part of a much grander and ambitious game.

However, soon after arriving on the world map, the part of Final Fantasy VII that brings me pause upon starting up a new play-through so easily rears its head into the picture. I'm talking about the approximately 40-minute flashback sequence that occurs upon arriving in Kalm. There are good things about this moment in the game, such as showing off Sephiroth's amazing power in battle by killing a giant dragon with one attack while the soldiers joining him can hardly put a dent into its HP, as well as establishing character relationships and some back story (as well as making a later revelation in the game have a much larger impact).

However, upon repeated play-throughs, it's a section of the game I wish I could skip sometimes. Even then, that's big praise that a quick fraction of a gigantic game is the thing that bothers me the most about Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1, PSP, iOS, Android)

While Final Fantasy VII's Kalm flashback sequence can stop me from doing a run of the game, Final Fantasy Tactics has something that can stop beginning players from successfully continuing their first run of the game.

Final Fantasy Tactics' various missions generally take place isolated from one another. However, occasionally within the game, there are missions occur one after the other without the option to return to the world map. That isn't a problem so far. The problem here is that you're given the option to save in between these missions. What's wrong with that? You can find protagonist Ramza's party too underleveled or not strong enough to tackle a mission in these successive battles. With no option to return to the world map upon losing (you get a game over instead), you can find yourself stuck with no possible means to progress in the campaign.

The first set of battles that this can become a problem is Riovannes Castle, a setting housing three successive fights. The second, against a transformed Wiegraf, is quite possibly one of the toughest encounters in the game, much more a massive jump in difficulty early in the game. Without proper knowledge of this, beginning players can find themselves having to start a new save data from the very beginning of the game if they weren't aware to make a second save ahead of time. I know my early struggle with this problem caused me to drop Final Fantasy Tactics for months. Thankfully, I went back to it and found myself thinking Tactics is one of the greater games in the franchise, mainline, spin-off, or whatever.

Metroid Prime (GCN)

Retro Studios and Nintendo seemingly did the impossible-- not only take the then-previously all 2D Metroid franchise into 3D with fantastically epic results, but it was done with a team that was inexperienced at best. Really, Metroid Prime is one of my favorite games of all time, but it's not without an issue that many players might find frustrating.

This particular segment of Metroid Prime occurs late in the game. Samus Aran is tasked to venturing to the Impact Crater of Tallon IV after exploring all other areas within the game. There she finds a series of nine pillars that require you as the player to venture (see: backtrack) through the areas of Tallon IV to find the Chozo Artifact designated to each pillar. You get a clue for each artifact's location from each pillar.

Personally, I found this little end game scavenger hunt enjoyable, but just imagine other players' perspectives, thinking they were at the end of the game, ready to take on the final bosses, only to be stopped by this late game collect-a-thon. Many found themselves turning to places like GameFAQs and the like to rush through this section of the game to finally get the chance to take down Meta-Ridley for good (at least in the original Metroid Prime "for good") and then go on to face Metroid Prime itself.

The funny (perhaps I should have put that in quotes) part about this late game scavenger hunt is that it would be used in the Metroid Prime games succeeding this one. I found them fun, but then again, I found the Triforce Quest of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker somewhat tolerable, so I have my own issues!

Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)

Mario Kart 8 is the latest in the long-running and most successful arcade kart racing series on the market. With every iteration, Nintendo delivers fun and fast racing that is accessible to all skill levels while possessing enough depth to remain engaging for gaming veterans.

This is a rather humorous inclusion to this list of my favorite games with problems because the problem I am going to talk about is getting fixed with the Nintendo Switch's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, coming out at the end of April. That problem is one many players of the Wii U original know all too well-- the omission of Bowser Jr. Okay, no, while that was an issue I had with the Wii U original, the real problem is the Battle Mode.

What made previous entries of Mario Kart so engaging with their Battle Modes were dedicated arenas to pursue, hunt down, and attack opponents on. In Mario Kart 8's Wii U incarnation, the Battle Mode consisted of tracks from the Grand Prix mode of the game with no real alterations that could be traveled on in both forwards and backwards fashion (i.e. no major glider sections that could only be traveled one-way). While the varied geography of the battlefields weren't inherently awful, the size of them meant opponents took much longer to find one another and confrontations weren't as thrilling as they would otherwise be in an arena setting.

Thankfully, a big part of the appeal of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch is the return of the classic arena-style Battle Mode. Sure, for many who owned the Wii U original, it might not be worth a second purchase. However, at the same token, most gamers and consumers didn't own a Wii U, so the package will be an entirely new game to them regardless.

[Poochy &] Yoshi's Woolly World (3DS, Wii U)

I recently reviewed the Nintendo 3DS port of the Wii U's tremendously creative and charming Yoshi's Woolly World. To me, both versions of the game are modern classics that rival even the original Yoshi's Island on the Super Nintendo. One of the major things I like over the SNES classic is that getting 100% in a level doesn't need to be performed by doing every task in one run (getting all five flowers, collecting all 20 red coins, or badges in Woolly World's case, or having full health by the end of a level), making for a much less stressful experience.

However. Yoshi's Woolly World isn't without its faults. Let me focus on the main one that can drive many completionists crazy. A good deal of collectibles within the game are found in hidden cloud bubbles. I'm talking literally hidden in that they're invisible to the eye until Yoshi brushes up against them. This means that in many levels and in order to find everything, you need to obsessively jump in any suspicious space to have the bubbles appear.

Inside the bubbles are usually things that are required to fully complete a level, such as a flower, a collection of colorful beads where one or two of them are badges you need to nab, or a yarn spool. While there are items you can spend beads on to reveal their locations, it feels disappointing that the collectibles almost require you to do that for so many levels. It's like the developers knew how much they overdid hiding secrets in the game and gave themselves a way out. Nonetheless, even with this problem, I find Yoshi's Woolly World on Wii U and its Nintendo 3DS port amazing platformers worthy of any fans of the genre's time and money.

The Worst Things About SuperPhillip Central's Favorite Games

The games that are my favorites are ones that have minimal or next to no faults in them. I'd be fooling myself if I said a game that I liked best was perfect. That's the purpose of this article: to try to delve into my favorite games, figuring out that one thing that isn't so perfect about them. Many of these may come off as nitpicks, and that's the nature of trying to come up with gripes, no matter how small, towards the games I adore most.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 3DS)

Let's start with my favorite video game ever created, the masterful Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's really cliche, I guess, as a choice for favorite game ever made, but it's not like the game isn't one of the most revolutionary, well paced, or creatively designed out there. Thus, there's a reason many consider it the best of all time.

Regardless, especially in the Nintendo 64 version, a problem that plagued many games on the system, especially those with high caliber graphics, is the frame-rate. It can go to the low teens in an instant, particularly in more action-intense sequences as well as more open areas like Hyrule Field. 

Another issue with the Nintendo 64 version is no stranger to fans of the game, and even harsh critics. I'm talking about an element of the Water Temple. The dungeon itself isn't annoying. The need to constantly pause and unpause the game to equip the Iron Boots from the Gear menu, however, is. I'm embellishing here, but one may spend more time in the menus than in the actual Water Temple itself because of how much you have to equip and remove the Iron Boots!

With the Nintendo 3DS version, which is the definitive version, in my mind, both the frame-rate (though there are modest drops in the 3DS version) and the Iron Boots were fixed. For the Iron Boots, they became an equipment item, much like the Boomerang or Hookshot. You could simply tap the touch screen to equip them and remove them instantaneously. 

The 3DS version did bring a new problem into Ocarina of Time, and that's when you have the 3D slider on of the Nintendo 3DS. Dark areas presented a ghosting effect with colors and images bleeding over into the darkness for a sullied look. A very small gripe, but a gripe nonetheless.

Resident Evil 4 (Multi)

With a new version of Resident Evil 4 coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One later this season (making it the 101st official version across all platforms), it seems timely I talk about my favorite third-person shooter. And there's the rub. As a game to its lonesome, Resident Evil 4 is one of the most perfectly paced games ever devised. Its action is superior to most games, its design is superb, and it's absolutely dripping with macabre atmosphere. 

As part of the Resident Evil series, however, this game saw a shift in tone of the series. Future games acted more as third-person shooters with some horror elements instead of the pure survival horror gameplay longtime fans of the series had come to expect. It's only now that Resident Evil 7, announced at this past E3, seems to be taking the franchise back to its roots. 

I'm one of those whose first experience with the Resident Evil franchise was the fourth installment, hyping it up as the last big GameCube exclusive (we all know how that turned out). Thus, I didn't have as much at stake with the future of the franchise. Still, knowing where Resident Evil went after 4 and it disappointing so many fans is something that can be considered a flaw for Resident Evil 4. Seeing as that's the worst I can say about the game, that's mighty impressive.

Perfect Dark (N64, XBLA)

From a third-person shooter to a first-person shooter, I've always enjoyed objective-based FPS games like GoldenEye, TimeSplitters, and yes, Perfect Dark over games that focused more on running and gunning through either expansive levels or corridor-to-corridor design. Perfect Dark is a marvel of design with its many ways to clear a majority of missions, whether going in order or accomplishing each objective in the order you desire. 

A problem that haunts both versions really isn't too bad. That is that many of the missions in the game can take upwards of 15-30 minutes on Perfect Agent difficulty, the hardest difficulty in the game, sporting the most objectives, harder AI, greater damage, and no shields to add to Ms. Joanna Dark's defenses. One mistake can cost you those 15-30 minutes of progress thanks to the lack of checkpoints. 

Now, back when the game originally came out in 2000, one of my proudest gaming achievements (before Xbox and Microsoft made them an actual thing that people could earn for GamerScore) was beating all of the missions on Perfect Agent mode. It took a lot of time, a lot of patience, and a lot of "dammit, I almost had it-s" to do that. So, yeah, I did "git gud", but at the same time, it's a viable complaint if I had to pick one.

However, the Nintendo 64 version also suffers from tremendous frame-rate drops, running sluggishly in the teens with great consistency. And don't even get me started on dropping a certain bomb that drops the frame-rate in single digits.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) 

We continue with this look at some of my favorite games of all time with Super Mario Galaxy 2. Generally, the motion control actions worked flawlessly. Now, even some longtime gamers couldn't adjust to the Wii's motion controls. I'm not referring to waggle as motion controls. Most of Super Mario Galaxy 2's functions were tilting the Wii Remote. 

That's exactly what one needs to do in the gliding sections of Super Mario Galaxy 2. This quest for a Power Star happens in two galaxies. The first isn't too bad at all. Not only does making it to the end of the course give you your much desired Power Star, but flying through five difficultly placed rings gives you a Comet Medal.

It's the second level late in the game that always gets my proverbial goat. Or, I guess bird would be the right word to use here. It's not so much making it to the end that's the problem. It's making it through all five rings, which are in some absurdly hard and fiendish locations. Twisting and tilting the Wii Remote to reach each can make you look like a contortionist. It's by far my least favorite part of Super Mario Galaxy 2, and even then, it's very much manageable.

Banjo-Kazooie (N64, XBLA)

Finishing off this first look at some of my favorite games of all time and their flaws (if you didn't guess, I plan to do more), Banjo-Kazooie takes center stage, my favorite 3D collect-a-thon style platformer. In the original game on the Nintendo 64, there were 100 musical notes scattered and hidden around each of the game's main worlds. If you died before collecting all 100, your top amount would be saved by the game. Dying wasn't usually too much of a scare for seasoned players, but one particular world of the game made death all too easy, Rusty Bucket Bay. I'm particular in talking about the engine room, where fans spin dangerously and platforms twist and turn constantly.

It's far too easy for a run at 100 musical notes to end in this section, making you have to start collecting them all over again on your next life. Thankfully, the Xbox Live Arcade HD port removed having to collect all 100 musical notes in one run. Instead, it saved every musical note you collected even after death. Thus, you just needed to go after missing notes if you for some reason bit the big one. So, then you have the Xbox 360 HD port fixing my one issue with the original Banjo-Kazooie. Well, maybe that final fight with Gruntilda is still a bit of a difficulty jump...

Game Boy Turns 25: Our Favorite Games

Today, April 21, 2014, Nintendo's successful Game Boy originally released. Since then, the Game Boy line has sold over 200 million units in total, and has single-handily built Nintendo's portable empire, beating every competitor that tried to dethrone the handheld king (even more technologically advanced hardware). Since the Game Boy is now 25, does this mean that the Game Boy should be referred to as the Game Man? Holy cow, that joke was terrible.

Anyway, the staff here at SuperPhillip Central would like to take this special date and anniversary to look back at some of our favorite titles for Nintendo's handheld wonder, sometimes sharing some of our personal memories of these games. If you have any titles from the original Game Boy that you have fond memories of, please share with the community in the comments below.

- Super Mario Land
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

The first Super Mario Land game is rather strange. There's an absence of recurring Mario enemies, and even Bowser and his perpetual prisoner Princess Peach are nowhere to be found. Instead, Mario ventures outside the borders of the Mushroom Kingdom to Sarasaland in hopes of saving Princess Daisy, in her debut game. It's also the only mainline Mario game to include her in the cast. Super Mario Land featured capable platforming, bizarre vehicle segments (but they were by no means bad), and a challenging enough difficulty to keep new Game Boy systems owners a lot to come back to.

- Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

While Super Mario Land introduced Tatanga as the one time villain of the series, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins introduced the world to Wario. Not only that, but 6 Golden Coins featured a nonlinear game progression, quite unlike Super Mario Land. After the initial opening stage, Mario could visit one of six zones surrounding his shanghaied castle in any order. Once all of the bosses of each zone surrendered their given golden coin to Mario, the portly plumber could enter the castle, participate in a crazy difficulty jump of a level, and retake his home from Wario. Super Mario Land 2 improved the visuals immensely in comparison to its predecessor, and the results were nothing less than spectacular.

- Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

It wasn't enough that Wario had to steal Mario's castle from him. In 1994 he went ahead and stole his rival's own series from him! Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 was the first game of the Wario Land series, and obviously it starred everyone's eventual favorite nose-picking, butt-scratching, fart-unleashing, garlic-eating plumber in an entirely new platforming adventure. Wario Land featured a new means of attacking: ground pounds, charges, chucking foes into other enemies, and more. Of the Super Mario Land games, the third installment unquestionably had the most replay value, with its secret levels, hidden treasures, and different ending castles for Wario that depend on how much coinage players gathered. Wario's debut starring role was a force to be reckoned with... just like one of his farts.

- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes (The DX version)

There was nothing quite like getting an expansive world to explore like The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening's Koholint Island. The fact that you had a Zelda game with the same echelon of content as a Super Nintendo title, A Link to the Past, was mind-blowing to many. Sure, we take this for granted nowadays, as handhelds have improved exponentially over the years, but Link's Awakening is one of a prestigious group of Game Boy games that simply stand the test of time. Its unique combination of items, side quests, and areas like towns and dungeons to explore allowed players to become fully consumed by Koholint Island and its many wonders.

- Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow
On 3DS Virtual Console: No

I remember reading about something called "Pocket Monsters" in an issue of Nintendo Power. The two page or so article showed the series of games launching in Japan and the ensuing ruckus that followed. A year later, I received a video tape in the mail from the magazine, all about Pokemon. When the games hit North America, I was in middle school, and I was completely immersed into the series. I played the games like an addict, I watched the anime, I collected the playing cards, and I even drew my own comic books based on the franchise. 15 years later and the Pokemon series is still going strong. I might not have anywhere near the amount of attachment to the series as I once had, but I can't fathom ever disliking it.

- Tetris
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

Before Wii Sports, there was a game that introduced plenty of non-gamers to the gaming side for just a brief moment. It was a bona fide system seller for many, and once players of all ages got their hands on it, minutes turned to hours in quick fashion. This Russian-made concept was simple: falling blocks of seven different shapes (five, if you don't count mirrored shapes) fell slowly from the top of the screen to the bottom. The goal was to piece blocks together to form a complete line, thus eliminating those blocks and giving the player points. Tetris has since had multiple ports and iterations on essentially every platform under the sun, and has gone on to sell over 170 million copies, most of which are digital. To say that Tetris is the most prolific puzzle game around would be no understatement whatsoever.

- Metroid II: Return of Samus
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

Samus Aran made her second appearance in Metroid II: Return of Samus. Her objective this time around was to eliminate every specie of Metroid on a harsh planet. Along the way Samus would uncover upgrades and abilities to increase the number of areas she could traverse in. While it's true that like the original Metroid before it, making a map is certainly helpful due to all of the identical-looking corridors and rooms, Metroid II: Return of Samus was still a fantastic first portable entry for Nintendo's femme fatale.

- Donkey Kong Land I-III
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes (Japan Only, save for III)

You might scoff and sneer at the visuals of the Donkey Kong Land series today, but back then the trilogy wowed Game Boy owners with its impressive graphics. The original Donkey Kong Land implemented nearly everything concept-wise from the Super Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country. However, the levels and worlds were entirely different. Even new enemies showed up that were exclusive to that game. The sequels of Donkey Kong Land would utilize similar stories to their SNES counterparts, but the levels would be designed differently, despite sharing the same names. While the games haven't aged as gracefully as many of the other games on this list, we still hold a fondness for Rare's portable Donkey Kong Land trilogy.

- Donkey Kong
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

Not a straight up port of the popular arcade game but an entirely new challenging puzzle platformer, Donkey Kong released on the original Game Boy in 1994. While its first four levels were modeled after the four levels of the arcade game, once those were completed, the game showed its stuff. Levels consisted of Mario jumping, climbing, and hanging through obstacle-laden courses, with the goal of finding and carrying a key to a locked door somewhere in the level. The amount of new gameplay concepts constantly kept this 1994 version of Donkey Kong from becoming stale. The Game Boy Donkey Kong remains one of the best puzzle platformers ever devised, and if you're looking for a more recent take on the genre (but only after you've played this Game Boy game, of course), check out the Game Boy Advance's Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

- Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

Pit returned to gaming with the Game Boy's Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. The game was a marked improvement over its NES predecessor. For one, the challenge was more reasonable and fair. Climbing up the vertical levels and accidentally falling did not usually mean a lost life. Going off the screen at the bottom didn't kill you. Instead, the screen scrolled with you like a typical platformer. Of Myths and Monsters contained multi-room dungeons set up like labyrinths to keep players engaged and exploring. It was a shame that we didn't get to see the Kid Icarus franchise return to the public eye until decades later with Pit's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and his first starring role in 20 years with the 3DS' Kid Icarus: Uprising (great game, by the way).

- Kirby's Dream Land 2 
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

One of the hardest classic Kirby games is right here-- Kirby Dream Land 2. The game was a much longer game than what Game Boy owners had previously seen of the Kirby franchise. It implemented multiple animal pals to help Kirby in his adventure, and offered optional collectibles to unlock an alternate ending to the game. The real challenge came from keeping the necessary ability to unlock the way to said optional collectibles. Kirby's Dream Land 2 was a terrific title to give players who mock the difficulty of the Kirby series.

- Mole Mania
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes

Shigeru Miyamoto was the brainchild behind this puzzle game. Mole Mania had players controlling (if it wasn't already obvious) a mole, as they played through eight worlds, venturing between the surface and burrowing underground in order to solve puzzles and make progress through the game. Mole Mania was deceptively simple at first, but even then, the concept was recognizably clever right from the start. Later worlds introduced harder puzzles, new mechanics, and plenty of head-scratching gameplay for all players of all skill levels to enjoy. It's about time we see a return to this game. You listening, Nintendo?!

- Final Fantasy Legend series
On 3DS Virtual Console: No

The Final Fantasy Legend series gave players an RPG adventure that was as meaty as a Behemoth. An embarrassment of class, equipment, and ability riches were available for players to outfit their characters in a myriad of means to best suit their play style. Although the three games of the series were obviously a little watered down compared to their console brethren, Final Fantasy Legend was an incredibly capable and competent RPG to engrossed in either on the go or at home.

- Mega Man V
On 3DS Virtual Console: Yes (Japan Only)

The wholly original Mega Man game for the Game Boy was Mega Man V. It had all original levels and Robot Masters to contend with, each based on a planet of the Solar System. The fifth and final Game Boy installment also showcased a new means of attack for Mega Man, the Mega Arm. Throughout the game, Mega Man could return to Dr. Light's laboratory to purchase items with special chips that were sprinkled about the game's eight initial levels. Also new was the ability to select from all eight stages upon the beginning of the game instead of just four at first (and then once those were completed, the other four opened up). Mega Man V may be only available on Japan's Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service, but next month Capcom is releasing a slew of Mega Man games, including Mega Man V, for the service here in North America.