Double-Dipped: Games I've Purchased More Than Once Over the Years

Welcome to the beginning of a brand new series of articles on SuperPhillip Central. Can you believe that after nearly 12 years of this blog being online that I can still come up with new ideas for article series? If you do, then you have more faith in me than I do!

This is Double-Dipped, an article series that talks about games that I enjoyed so much that I couldn't help but take a second or sometimes third plunge on purchasing. These games fill me with such unadulterated joy that I like to play them on any new platform I can--but at the same time, some of these games were bought again for the same exact console. Those stories and more will be shared in this regularly reoccurring series. Let's dive in with the first of six games for this inaugural edition of Double-Dipped!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NSW)

I was talking about buying a game twice on the same system, and speak of the devil (and no, I'm not alluding to Tom Nook--he's cool in my book), here we are! With Animal Crossing: New Horizons, recently revealed to be the best selling entry in the Animal Crossing series yet, we decided to buy the same game two times: one for myself and one for my brother. This way both of us could maintain our own islands and not at all become limited in our mutual enjoyment of the game. Otherwise, I'd be the one in charge of the main island development while my brother would take a much undesired backseat role, very much ruining the experience for him like it has for others with only one Switch and one copy of the game. Hmm... I'm starting to partly see how New Horizons became the best-selling entry in the series if more siblings or family members were placed in the same precarious situation! Partly, though, mind you, as between the two of us, my brother and I nearly 300 hours of playtime. I'd say the addicting gameplay brings forth a good argument as to why Animal Crossing: New Horizons is selling so well, too!

Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii, N3DS)

Do you remember Project Rainfall? Of course not. Because it was called Operation Rainfall. (I originally had this written as "Project Rainfall" in my first draft, so I'm glad I caught it before I hit "Publish".) For North Americans, getting Xenoblade Chronicles released on this side of the world was like fighting a level 60 unique encounter with a level 1 Reyn--it was a difficult battle. Perhaps that isn't the greatest of analogies, as unlike an underleveled Reyn and his fight, we actually won our battle as Xenoblade Chronicles released in North America--though not without some stipulations. Today, Xenoblade Chronicles is a fantastic selling series for Nintendo, and quite an important one. The game saw two sequels with the Wii U's Xenoblade Chronicles X and the Switch's Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The latter received its own successful DLC side story as well.

I originally picked up Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii, like many hungry Wii owners in search of a meaty role-playing game to enjoy during the Wii's leaner years of top-notch releases. I made it rather far, but unfortunately, other games got in the way that I, who was a much younger, more inexperienced blogger at the time, covered. Picking up Xenoblade Chronicles 3D on the New Nintendo 3DS seemed like a great choice, as I could enjoy a mammoth-sized JRPG from the luxury of anywhere, courtesy of handheld gaming. However, I never even put it in my New Nintendo 3DS for a second, as the thought of starting a 100-hour RPG at the time was a daunting one. Now, they say the third time is the charm, and you can bet I'll be picking up the Definitive Edition's release on the Switch at the end of this month. Here's hoping with quarantine that I'll have a reason to not get so distracted this time around!

Spyro: Reignited Trilogy (PS4, NSW)

So many developers pull this trick on Nintendo fans: release a game a year or more after the original launch date on other consoles so foolish gamers will double dip and purchase it a second time around. Well, as you can tell by the name of this article series, you're looking at such a gamer! Spyro: Reignited Trilogy is a collection of the first three Spyro the Dragon games from the original PlayStation that have been completely remade for a new generation of consoles (and a new generation of fans, perhaps, too, at that). As someone who only played parts of the first Spyro the Dragon (and got a major headache from the game in motion), being able to finally enjoy the entire trilogy in such a glorious and gorgeous way gave me the desire to get the Platinum trophy on the entire trilogy of games. When the Switch version was announced and released, it gave me a second lease on the life of this trilogy, and just like my first go 'round, playing the games in both docked and undocked mode was an experience to remember.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U, NSW)

Nintendo is not gun-shy about porting over its catalog of games from the Wii U to the Nintendo Switch. In fact, a good half or so (an approximate figure) of Nintendo's first-party output comes from the Wii U. While this might stink for Wii U fans (all 100 of us), an entirely new audience gets to play these games for the very first time with these Switch ports. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is but one of these games, and you can imagine that future installments of Double-Dipped with touch on other Wii U-to-Switch ports. Tropical Freeze is an absolute delight and near-platforming perfection. The addition of Funky Kong serves as a nice "easy mode" to a game notorious for its challenge and difficulty. Sure, Funky Mode tends to push the game's challenge the opposite way into "too easy" territory, but for beginning players who wish to enjoy Tropical Freeze their way, who are we to thumb our noses down? Despite originally releasing in 2014, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze remains Retro Studios' latest all-new release, which begs the question: What the banana-loving heck is going on at Retro Studios?

Rayman Legends (Wii U, Vita, NSW)

Like Rayman 2, Rayman Legends was a game that felt like it was ported to every current gen platform under the sun. It sure feels like I've played the game on every platform under the sun as I've gotten the game three times now, each feeling like a different experience. The original Wii U version's use of the Wii U GamePad for the Murfy sections, where you maneuver objects, slide platforms, and the like to guide a smartly-controlled AI character through a gauntlet of enemies and dangers, was a blast and quite unique and innovative. Unlike the PlayStation Vita version that used similar touch-based controls for these sections, with the Wii U version, multiplayer was possible here. The Nintendo Switch version saw somewhat of a "best of both worlds" approach. While the original Wii U version remains my favorite of the bunch, the need to use archaic hardware to play it makes it less than attractive for me, so my preferred way to play is on the Nintendo Switch. Regardless, whichever platform you play Rayman Legends on, you're going to get a tremendous-looking, stellar-playing 2D platformer.

LEGO City Undercover (Wii U, NSW, PS4)

Oh, goodness. Another three-peat here for yours truly. LEGO City Undercover wasn't my first LEGO game from Tt Games, but it is my absolute favorite. I guess that's obvious when you see how many times I've purchased and played through the game. The Wii U original saw smart GamePad usages, such as a helpful mini-map on the second screen, a communicator that NPCs used to contact our hero Chase McCain, and a means to scan the environment for subjects and various points of interest. Like many games on the Wii U, LEGO City Undercover thankfully made the trip to the Nintendo Switch, where it kept all of the Mario references but lost the unique GamePad functionality. This version isn't optimized to the best of the developer's ability, resulting in some nasty frame-rate drops, particularly in undocked mode. Still, playing the game on a system with a better controller and on just a better designed system made for a--forgive me for using this word a third time in the same sentence--better experience. I then moved on to the PlayStation 4 version due to a sale price and because I wanted an easy enough Platinum. Yes, that is sad, but I loved playing through LEGO City Undercover for a third time despite that fact.

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I hope you enjoyed this inaugural installment of Double-Dipped! What games have you bought more than once? Why did you do it? Let the SPC community know in the comments below!

Best Levels in Gaming History - Volume Twenty

Best Levels in Gaming History, like SuperPhillip Central, took a bit of a hiatus, but now it's back for a historic volume number twenty! This time around this long-running segment of SuperPhillip Central returns with some blockbuster games like God of War, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and more.

Take a look at all 19 past entries of Best Levels in Gaming History with these helpful links:

Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three
Volume Four
Volume Five
Volume Six
Volume Seven
Volume Eight
Volume Nine
Volume Ten
Volume Eleven
Volume Twelve
Volume Thirteen
Volume Fourteen
Volume Fifteen
Volume Sixteen
Volume Seventeen
Volume Eighteen
Volume Nineteen

Lake of Nine - God of War (PS4)

SuperPhillip Central's Game of 2018, God of War features some truly impressive level design (well, technically, area design), but nothing most fascinated and impressed me than the area positioned right smack dab in the middle of the game's map, the Lake of Nine.

Other than the tremendous scope of the Lake of Nine--which to itself is a monumental and mind-blowing feat--the aspect of this aquatic area that I love the most is how it evolves over the course of Kratos and Atreus's adventure. This is seen as the water level drops more and more throughout the game, revealing not only new locations to explore on the lake, but also new entrances to previously accessed areas.

The Lake of Nine itself is littered with appealing points of interest, places to scour for treasure, areas to uncover and complete side quests, and so much more. Just how astonishingly expansive the Lake of Nine grows from its already amazing size and scope when Kratos and Atreus first arrive at the location to the end of the game makes for superb execution of smart, well planned out level design. That makes the Lake of Nine a tremendous location in one of the best games of this generation of gaming platforms.

Hyrule Castle - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (NSW, Wii U)

Going from SuperPhillip Central's Game of 2018 to SuperPhillip Central's Game of 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has too much greatness in it to mention just one section of the game, but if I had to choose my personal favorite, it would have to be infiltrating Hyrule Castle in order to defeat Calamity Ganon.

Hyrule Castle can famously be visited at any point in Link's adventure--even after getting off the tutorial area of Breath of the Wild, the Great Plateau. Of course, reaching the throne room where Calamity Ganon resides is considerably no easy task, much more even surviving the several boss battles foolhardy players would encounter if they went directly to Hyrule Castle. Nonetheless, it is very much possible (though incredibly difficult) to beat the game as soon as Link exits the Great Plateau.

And that's what makes The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so great--the freedom of the game. Much like the overall structure of Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Castle is completely open to explore, and you can reach the throne room a myriad of ways--whether it's meandering around the perimeter, around the outside and indoors of the castle, to simply calling upon Revali's Gale a couple of times to reach the castle's top and do battle with Calamity Ganon immediately. The tense music only further drives home how absolutely dire the situation at the castle is and how much is at stake.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Hyrule Castle is a complex and sensational final destination for players, and the many ways one can go about taking it on is in the sensational spirit of freedom within the overall game.

New Donk City Festival - Super Mario Odyssey (NSW)

After all of the hubbub from Bowser's unwelcome arrival and subsequent assault on Super Mario Odyssey's New Donk City, Mayor Pauline asks of Mario to round up the members of her band for a special performance. This performance is a cherry on top of one of the best levels within Super Mario Odyssey, and creates a magical Super Mario experience all in one. It's the New Donk City Festival.

Here, fireworks explode in the bright, festive nighttime background of New Donk City as Mario takes a nostalgic trip back in time to his Donkey Kong-defeating days, as the citizens he saved in the city cheer him on. This is all the while the super-catchy "Jump Up, Super Star!" plays, the main theme of Super Mario Odyssey.

In a delightful display, Mario enters a warp pipe and finds him from his three-dimensional self into his old 2D form. The goal of this level is to make it through each 2D room--some of which wrap around the sides of New Donk City's skyscrapers--and reach Pauline at the very top to be rewarded with a Grand Moon for all of Mario's efforts. It's a perfect presentation and display of just how special Super Mario Odyssey can be. Even after multiple play-throughs of this specific section of Super Mario Odyssey, I find myself smiling from ear to ear while platforming through the New Donk City Festival.

Tomb Wader - Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy (PS4, XB1, NSW, PC)

We go to a game series that was once a bitter rival to Mario, and that's Crash Bandicoot. It's just absolutely wild that the original PlayStation trilogy's remakes were brought to the Switch for Nintendo fans to play. I absolutely could not imagine that growing up during the "Listen up, plumber boy" days of Nintendo vs. PlayStation.

Regardless, coming from Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped within the Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy is the Tomb Wader level, a clever pun on Lara Croft's series. Speaking of things that are clever, Tomb Wader as a level itself presents Crash with a temple trial with rising and lowering water at specific intervals at specific parts of the level, requiring Crash to stay safely above the water or else drown. There are also doors to be opened by performing a spin maneuver into wooden wheels, enemies with shields that must be defeated with a slide or else they're otherwise impenetrable, and even possesses a Death Path for those who survive until the halfway point of the level.

Tomb Wader is an exceptionally fun and creative level within Crash Bandicoot 3 that brings a clever mechanic that doesn't overstay its welcome. While a punishing level for those who wish to rush through it, Tomb Wader makes for a wild and wet ride from beginning to end.

Fly Me to the Moon - LEGO City Undercover (NSW, PS4, XB1, PC, Wii U)

The final mission of LEGO City Undercover, the game I easily place on my list of best LEGO games, Fly Me to the Moon is an interstellar missions that takes place in outer space--more specifically, the moon and a space base.

What can you say about a level that has you platforming and solving puzzles in low gravity, doing battle in Aliens-style mech suits against Rex Fury, facing off against said boss on top of a gigantic piece of falling space debris that slowly rips asunder as it approaches the earth, and ending in an epic free-fall towards Earth with haunting choir music playing? Is this a LEGO game or Mass Effect here!? Anyhoo--I know what you can say about a level that has all of this awesomeness in it--it's absolutely astounding.

Fly Me to the Moon is a memorable mission that hyped me from beginning to end, and it was a exciting exclamation point to a solid open world game in LEGO City Undercover. If you're looking for a great, original LEGO game, LEGO City Undercover is such a game--and is at the top of its heap.

Review Round-Up - April 2017

Yooka-Laylee was not just a Kickstarter success story but an overall fun
yet flawed throwback to N64-era collect-a-thon platformers.

April showers brought eight reviews to SuperPhillip Central (and the aforementioned aggression to the Central City Census). We began with Mr. Shifty, which had great melee-based gameplay, but suffered in length and performance. It received a B-, as did our first mobile game review of the month, FZ9: Timeshift. Following that was one of the PlayStation brand's mobile offerings, Run Sackboy! Run!, speeding its way to an average C grade.

The featured games of the month, LEGO City Undercover and Yooka-Laylee both earned an enjoyable B- grade. Then two more mobile titles were reviewed, Kami 2 (B-) and Dan the Man (B). Finally, the heroes in a half shell were showcased in the month's sole retro review with 2003's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, getting a disappointing D to close out the month.

May is going to be an exciting month for SuperPhillip Central review-wise, as Horizon: Zero Dawn and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be but two of the reviews featured. Stay tuned!

Mr. Shifty (NS, Steam) - B-
FZ9: Timeshift (iOS, Android) - B-
Run Sackboy! Run! (iOS, Android, Vita) - C
LEGO City Undercover (NS, PS4, XB1, PC) - B-
Yooka-Laylee (PS4, XB1, PC) - B-
Kami 2 (iOS, Android) - B-
Dan the Man (iOS, Android) - B
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PS2, GCN, XBX) - D

LEGO City Undercover returns and Chase McCain is back on the beat with a series of sloppy ports.

LEGO City Undercover (NS, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

Tuesday brings a new review to SuperPhillip Central. LEGO City Undercover scored well back in the early Wii U days (and back when SuperPhillip Central used numbered scores). Now we see it return, but this time on even more platforms, including the Wii U's successor, the Switch (which is the version this review is based off of). After four years, how has LEGO City fared?

UPDATE: Apparently the 479 MB patch for LEGO City Undercover was something I hadn't downloaded or installed. When I did, all of the Nintendo references seen in the Wii U version were available in my Switch save file.

A sloppy port of a great LEGO game

LEGO City Undercover originally released in 2013 for the Wii U. Playing through the funny story, witnessing the sharp writing, and discovering secrets in LEGO City itself made it my personal favorite LEGO game. Now it's 2017 and finally the game gets a chance for even more exposure with a port on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and the most recent of hardware releases, the Nintendo Switch (though it lacks the Nintendo references of the Wii U version). Despite all of its problems from its transition between a Wii U exclusive and a multi-platform game, LEGO City Undercover retains a lot of what I enjoyed from back in 2013.

LEGO City Undercover sees hero Chase McCain get less than a hero's welcome when he returns to LEGO City. However, crime is in season, and Rex Fury has escaped from Albatross Island. Rejoining the LEGO City Police Department and having a big fan in the hilarious (no, really-- no sarcasm there!) Frank Honey, Chase McCain is back on the case, but with a great deal to prove. The story shows Chase entering the underbelly and underworld of crime of LEGO City by going undercover. Not just to make up for the mistake that saw him shipped out of LEGO City in the first place, but to make it up for a special someone.

Ordinary cop? You're much too modest, Chase! Compared to Frank Honey, you're Robocop!

While there are several elements of LEGO City Undercover that are lessened from the Wii U version when compared to these ports, the first thing that doesn't get a hint of degradation quality-wise is the hilarious writing. The characters have sharp dialogue, provide funny slapstick humor and sight gags, and would be enjoyed by folks beyond the usual LEGO game audience. In fact, many of the references in particular to various movies would be lost on kids. From a character named Blue who can "get" things for our hero when he ventures inside Albatross Island as an ode to Shawshank Redemption (complete with "not knowing what that Italian lady was singing about that day" and without the more adult scenarios) to a construction yard foreman who looks and sounds suspiciously similar to a former governator of California. It's quite weird how he slips movie names from that actor's career into his spoken dialogue.

In most LEGO games, you get an assortment of characters to switch between, each with different powers and abilities used to solve puzzles and platforming challenges. LEGO City Undercover takes the concept of different powers and abilities but splits them between the various disguises that Chase can wear. Each disguise is earned from playing through the story normally, generally in the game's missions, and each has its own uses. The robber disguise, for instance, is the only one that can crack safes and pry locked doors open, while the miner is the only disguise of Chase's that can pick up dynamite to be used to blow up silver structures and doors.

While not his only trick, Chase in his LCPD attire can grapple onto hooks like this one.

Speaking of the missions in LEGO City Undercover, there are the typical LEGO game missions that take place in closed off areas where the goal is to basically punch everything in sight, build objects from the destroyed LEGOs in a sometimes set order, and solve simplistic puzzles this way. Other times in LEGO City Undercover you're doing stuff outside the confines of traditional LEGO game levels, stealing a vehicle and trying to get to another part of the map in one piece, saving someone from the rooftop of a burning hospital building by doing some jumping, climbing, and parkour-like maneuvers (this is while taking out baddies along the way), and other miscellaneous mission types.

Chase McCain in his robber disguise put these gang members on ice.

Failure in combat or in a level never results in a hefty price. If Chase takes too much damage, falls into an out-of-bounds area, and such, he merely gets brought back to life with a soft LEGO stud penalty (the currency used to buy things in the LEGO series). Failing a mission at any time merely means you start over from that current segment. So if you crashed your vehicle by flipping it upside-down-- which is something that is very possible due to the jerky driving and handling involved-- you don't have to curse much as you'll just restart from the beginning of the road trip.

Well, at least with the driving in this game you won't be stuck on the tutorial.

LEGO City is a sprawling metropolis with multiple regions and areas to it. You have its Cherry Tree Hills that is reminiscent of San Francisco with its streetcar, houses on hilly streets, and its own version of the city's famous Lombard Street (the super-curvy road with a multitude of hairpins). Then, there's its Bright Lights Plaza, obviously modeled after New York City's Times Square. LEGO City doesn't just stick with United States of America cities either, as one east coast part of town is an ode to Venice in the form of Fresco.

It's really best to wait to explore the insides and outsides of LEGO City until you have beaten the game's 10-15 hour campaign. That way you have all of Chase's disguises available to him. There's no greater annoyance in an open-world LEGO game than making your way from street level all the way to a building's rooftop only to find that you don't have the necessary disguise needed to complete a given extra side task.

Chase doesn't need a workout regimen. He gets enough exercise from exploring LEGO City.

And LEGO City is filled to the brim with these extra side tasks. There are activities that are related to the various disguises, such as putting out specific fires as the fireman, watering specially marked plant boxes as the farmer, planting a flag atop a building as the astronaut, and so forth. However, there are also other side tasks that don't involve a specific disguise. These range from discovering criminals in the act with Chase's scanner (no longer needing a separate screen to utilize like with the Wii U version using its system's GamePad) to getting in a particular vehicle to begin a time trial, where the goal is to go through marker to marker before time runs out.

In this screenshot, Chase must make his way across this tightrope
to reach the perfect spot to spy on some do-badders.

It can seem a bit overwhelming as there is a LOT of collecting to do. When I say collecting, I mean collecting gold bricks (one is given for each side task completed in a given LEGO City region), red bricks (which unlock cheats), character tokens, vehicle tokens, and super bricks that are the currency used to build impressive feats of construction with Super Builds. There are 450 gold bricks in total to collect for 100% completion, so even when you beat the initial campaign, you can easily double the 10-15 hours of play time considerably, perhaps even triple it.

Combat is like the heel of Achilles, a weak part of LEGO City Undercover.

Unfortunately, LEGO City Undercover on Nintendo Switch seems to be a bit of a cheaply done port, if the tagline of this review didn't reveal that already. Game crashes have happened on three occasions, where an error message presented itself and sent me back to the Switch main menu. Thankfully, after every side task completed, special item collected, or story segment completed, the game automatically saves, so seldom did I lose much progress or any at all. Less annoying but still obnoxious are the times when the main audio just gave out. Neither voices nor music would play, and subtitles were sped up during these problematic occurrences as well. The only solution was to close the software and load the game back up. I recall freezing and hard crashes being issues in the Wii U original, so it's disappointing these haven't been rectified in the Switch re-release. I don't, however, remember the music and voices cutting out the way they do in this port.

Forget it, Chase. It's Chinatow-- I mean, Pagoda.

In the Wii U version, the map of LEGO City was located on the GamePad screen. In these updated ports of LEGO City Undercover, the map is located in the bottom left corner of the [obviously TV] screen. There are two problems here: 1) Sometimes the map doesn't center on where Chase currently is, focusing on something entirely different, and 2) The game does not pause when you bring up the map with the Select/Minus button. You can see this while driving and bringing up the map. Chase's vehicle will slow to a stop.

Finally, if these bundles of joy that are the technical problems of LEGO City Undercover's new gen ports aren't delivering enough fun for you, the loading times from the Wii U version are better, but only slightly so. That said, it's much more entertaining to read tips from Frank Honey and Chief Dunby than stare at a progress bar (no matter how funky the music that played during these loading screens were).

For the Nintendo Switch version specifically, there is quite a bit of slowdown and frame-rate chugging in handheld mode. Docked is much more stable, though also having occasional issues in performance. Things like draw distance of buildings and such in the background is good, but people and vehicles materialize in and out. Audio wise, the music is as stellar as ever, offering a '70s cop show-like score, and the voice work is wonderful and delightful. The only real issue is in scanning mode and how picked up conversations sound incredibly loud compared to everything else.

The draw distance isn't too shabby in the Switch build of LEGO City Undercover.

Overall, I had an enjoyable second trip to LEGO City (well, third technically because of the 3DS prequel). It says a lot that even with all of the problems of these ports (both new in these versions and ones that weren't really fixed from the Wii U original) that I found myself having fun exploring the city, following along with the story, and losing dozens of hours to the game. It's just a total shame that this feels, looks, and plays like a quick and dirty port when LEGO City Undercover deserves so much more.

[SPC Says: B-]

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Summer Solstice 2016 Edition

Wasn't it just two days ago that we dipped into an edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs together? Why, yes, it was, but now the old VGMs are back on a Monday where they belong! Today is the first day of summer, and boy, the temps out there make me believe it!

This week's summer solstice edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs starts off with a blazing hot orchestral rendition of Star Fox 64's Katina theme as heard in Star Fox Assault. Then we go to the forest in two games, Donkey Kong and The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse. We then sneak into Blackwell Mansion in LEGO City Undercover, and end this edition with a battle theme from The Legend of Legacy.

Just click on the VGM title to hear a given song. And if you want even more VGM goodness, then check out the VGM Database! And now, on to the music!

v1166. Star Fox Assault (GCN) - Katina (Frontier Serenade)

Listed last week as my third favorite Star Fox game in SPC's Rank Up segment, Star Fox Assault sports my favorite soundtrack from the Star Fox series, sporting delightfully orchestrated tunes. Many of its tunes are taken from Star Fox 64, such as this one for Katina. The opening fanfare rouses much excitement inside my body. It's just a phenomenal song in a phenomenal soundtrack.

v1167. Donkey Kong (GB) - Forest

Originally coming into Donkey Kong's Game Boy romp, I, like many players at the time, were lulled into a false sense of security, expecting and receiving traditionally Donkey Kong "reach the top of the level" gameplay much like the arcade game. What I got after the initial four levels was an amazing puzzle platformer, and one of the original Game Boy's greatest games.

v1168. The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES, GBA) - Treetops

The Treetops is the first of six worlds in the highly enjoyable The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, released originally in 1993 on the Super Nintendo and then later ported to the Game Boy Advance almost a decade later. The soundtrack is pure '90s Capcom goodness with instrumentation as heard in a game quite unlike this one, Capcom's own Breath of Fire.

v1169. LEGO City Undercover (Wii U) - Blackwell Mansion

LEGO City Undercover's soundtrack is home to various '70s cop show and spy themes. Blackwell Mansion, one of the 15 missions in the game, has a theme that's the latter. The smooth sax and accompanying brass sends shivers down my spine, especially when I'm infiltrating said mansion.

v1170. The Legend of Legacy (3DS) - Twin-Dimensional Battle

Masashi Hamauzu is the composer behind the music for The Legend of Legacy, a critically panned Nintendo 3DS RPG which very much has old school sensibilities to it. The highlight of the game is the score, done beautifully by Hamauzu, who's most known work is the Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack, another panned game by RPG enthusiasts.

All-Star Franchises, Underrated Entries - Part Six

If you've been around SuperPhillip Central for a little while (it's still okay if you haven't, so no harm done), then you know that I like talking about underrated and overlooked games. I've done various series on the subject. However, most of the time, the games mentioned in these articles are from wholly new or overlooked franchises themselves.

There are also a multitude of series that I can think of that have one, two, or a handful of games in it that aren't viewed as highly as the others, whether just or not.

These ideas are where the concept of All-Star Franchises, Underrated Entries comes from, and since part five, I've come up with six more underrated entries to big-time franchises, some bigger than others. If you'd like to see past parts of this now long-running series, check them out here:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Killzone - Killzone: Mercenary (Vita)

Our first game we look at comes from a franchise that just HAD to be named a Halo killer due to it being an FPS and on a competing platform. After all, you have to have interesting narratives to get those clicks as any site will tell you. Despite failing to kill Halo, the Killzone series is enjoyable enough. However, the PlayStation Vita entry, Killzone: Mercenary is not just one that is what I consider the best handheld shooter available, it's also one of my favorite shooters of all time. Offering dual analog controls, some nice, optional gyroscope-based aiming, and nine pulse-pounding missions that have multiple ways of going about them for extra replay value, Killzone: Mercenary delivers in spades. It just stinks that it has a destiny of being overlooked, being on the Vita of all platforms. I can only hope the game gets a second chance to shine like Gravity Rush is and Tearaway has already with a PS4 remaster!

LEGO - LEGO City Undercover (Wii U)

All other big LEGO games in the series of games have an established IP attached to them, whether it's Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, or what have you. LEGO City Undercover, a Wii U exclusive, has all original characters and a Grand Theft Auto-lite experience. The game follows Chase McCain, a LEGO City Police Department officer in pursuit of the sinister criminal Rex Fury. Along the way he goes undercover into the criminal underbelly of LEGO City to oust his target. LEGO City itself is a sprawling metropolis absolutely filled with content to do, such as finding new character and vehicle tokens, putting out fires, breaking ATMs, putting an end to vehicle robberies, and much more. The city is as dense with things to do as any open world I've ever experienced. It's really the star of the show outside of the hilarious characters and story, as well as the typical LEGO-style level missions. LEGO City Undercover is easily the best the LEGO games have to offer. Don't believe me? Then you have to try the game out if you can tolerate the initial long loading time as the city loads.

Donkey Kong - Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (SNES)

Having the misfortune of releasing after the Nintendo 64 launched, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble was overlooked and underrated due to being one of the Super Nintendo's post-N64 releases. The game itself ranks for me higher than the original Donkey Kong Country, but not nearly as good as Diddy and Dixie's romp together with Diddy's Kong Quest, the second game of the SNES trilogy. Donkey Kong Country 3 may not have the terrific soundtrack of the previous two games, offering more of an ambient and atmospheric soundtrack, but what it does have are levels that constantly throw new and engaging challenges to the player, whether they're new gimmicks or not; enjoyable puzzles in figuring out how to retrieve the game's DK Coins, and has a fun overworld to explore, finding hidden Banana Bird caves and new locales. Yes, some aspects of the game are weak, like some of the animal buddies such as Ellie the Elephant, and some of the boss battles aren't too exciting, but overall, Dixie Kong's Double Trouble is little trouble to enjoy.

Metroid - Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)

The next game here is a Metroid game that doesn't really 100% feel like a Metroid game. This Nintendo DS Metroid, Metroid Prime Hunters, has a single player component to it, having players explore multiple planets while dealing with fellow bounty hunters who want to eliminate our hero Samus Aran and anyone else who wants to get in their way. While the campaign is Metroid-lite, granting Samus new weapons to reach new parts of the world, it's more streamlined than usual. The main attraction to Metroid Prime Hunters is the competitive multiplayer mode, taking several locations from the single player campaign and creating maps out of them. What once had online play, now only allows local play and battles with the game's competent bots. Still, I think Metroid Prime Hunters gets too little credit for not only implementing compelling multiplayer to the series, far better than what Metroid Prime 2: Echoes brought to the fold, but also for being a very engaging Metroid with a twist.

Klonoa - Klonoa (Wii)

Klonoa has seen hard times. The character and series in general don't get a lot of love. This became most pronounced with the release of a remake of the original Klonoa adventure, Door to Phantomile, with the Wii's Klonoa. You would figure on a system that is home to fans of platformers, more so than any other at the time, would have jumped (pun intended) to play one of the best Klonoa games around. With gorgeous new visuals, new challenge areas, and the same enjoyable 2.5D gameplay of the original PlayStation release, Klonoa is a fantastic and well paced platforming paradise that doesn't go for much cost-wise in the used market, making it a worthy purchase if you missed out on it when it initially released (which many did.) While the game bombing on store shelves has effectively killed any chance of a new Klonoa game, at least we have past titles of the series that we can look back on and enjoy.

Dead Rising - Dead Rising 3 (XONE, PC)

Now when I talk underrated in All-Star Franchises, Underrated Entries, I'm not usually talking about sales success. This is the case with Dead Rising 3, an entry that gets more complaints than it deserves. With an open world area bigger than Williamette Mall and the casino of Fortune City combined, a lack of loading screens, and more zombies on screen than you can shake a Servbot mask at, Dead Rising 3 is a packed game that is both big in size as well as scope. Obliterating horde of zombie after horde of zombie is as fun as ever with the ability to combine weapons without trekking to a workbench, saving from anywhere without the need for a restroom stall, and for old school fans, a Nightmare Mode that brings back the time limit from past Dead Rising games and harsher penalties for players. Selling well, Dead Rising 3 has shipped and sold over a million copies. Still, I find this entry is a bit underrated compared to other entries in the franchise. Well, save the Wii's Chop 'Til You Drop, which I'd argue is underrated as well, and much more so.