Onimusha: Way of the Sword (Multi) "Creator's Voice"

Ahead of Onimusha: Way of the Sword's September 4th release, Nintendo and Capcom have joined forces to provide prospective players with a behind-the-scenes look and talk from the director, Satoru Nihei, with the next in line of Nintendo's Creator's Voice series of videos. While Nintendo's channel, of course, focuses on the Nintendo Switch 2 version, Onimusha: Way of the Sword arrives on all current generation platforms later this week.

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-] 

Donkey Kong Country (GBA) Retro Review

I must be in a monkey kind of mood this month, specifically with Nintendo's grand gorilla, the mighty Donkey Kong! Earlier this month we took a look at the updated HD remaster of Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Nintendo Switch. Now, we're going further back in time with the OG Donkey Kong Country, except this time the Game Boy Advance version. How does it shape up? Let's find out with the SuperPhillip Central review!

Jungle Hi-Jinks in the palm of your hand.

1994 saw a wonderful partnership between Nintendo and Rareware blossom fully into something truly beautiful with their collaboration and the birth of Donkey Kong Country. It was an exciting time for platforming fans, and the rendered visuals of the game and sophisticated (and damn terrific) music helped set the Super Nintendo apart from its fierce competition at the time. Rare was on a tear back then, coming out with two sequels the following two years, and the quality was arguably even greater. 

In some ways it still blows my mind that today we get console-quality games in handheld/portable form, so you can bet it was earth-shattering to me that a home console game like Donkey Kong Country could be ported to a tiny handheld like the Game Boy Advance. Nowadays, we wouldn't get anywhere as near as many concessions as this version of the game has, but back in the day, it was really neat... in theory. That said, after finally playing the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country, no doubt there are better examples of Super Nintendo games that successfully made the transition to handheld form. Though certainly not for a lack of trying.

Donkey Kong Country's Game Boy Advance port immediately brings something new to the table upon starting a new save file--that of an opening. The Super Nintendo original's story was limited to that of reading it in the instruction manual (I miss those), but in the GBA version, we see that Donkey Kong asks his main man--er... monkey, Diddy, to watch over his banana hoard while he takes a nap. King K. Rool's Kremling army shortly enters into the cavern where the hoard is located and promptly takes Diddy down, pilfering the potassium-rich goodies in the process. 

Cranky Kong, who by the by, has lost a lot of his fun, snarky bite when compared to the SNES original, wakes Donkey Kong up, reveals what has transpired, and sees DK shoving off to locate his bananas all over DK Isle. 

The opening does give some added context to the game, but even still, the Game Boy Advance saw its games include instruction manuals where the game's story and background could have easily been displayed regardless. The added story elements don't end with the opening, as there are dialogue scenes post-boss battles, too. These aren't very worthwhile either and do best in just slowing down the pacing of the game. 

Immediately getting into some jungle hi-jinks within the first level of the game.

Regardless, the tried and true gameplay of Donkey Kong Country is here and accounted for. You play as Donkey Kong and quite quickly save Diddy Kong from inside a DK Barrel. Said special barrels will bring back either DK or Diddy into the fold. Since it's one-hit KOs for each character, if both characters are together, it's essentially like the original Super Mario Bros., where taking damage loses a power-up, or in DKC's case, either DK or Diddy. If another hit is taken (in SMB's terms, you're hit as small Mario, or in DKC's terms, you're hit by your lonesome without your platforming partner), a life is lost and you have to continue from either the start of the level or a checkpoint barrel.

These Kremlings certainly know how to hop to it.

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong can tag each other in, changing which character the player currently controls. This has its use cases. For example, Donkey Kong is much heavier than Diddy Kong, so while DK may not be as agile or quick on his feet, his weighty presence does allow him to defeat enemies that Diddy simply bounces off of or would require throwing a barrel at them to beat. 

While many games house poor swimming stages, I enjoy them within the Donkey Kong Country series.

Another difference is in how the characters hold barrels. DK holds them over his head, whereas Diddy holds them directly in front. This might seem like a negligible difference, but it's important when trying to carry a barrel through a horde of enemies. If enemies are overhead, DK's held barrel will most likely burst open, defeating the enemy, but also losing the barrel, of course. 

I mention this part because levels house plentiful secrets in the form of bonus areas. Many of these bonus areas can only be accessed through throwing or running a barrel into a special wall, blasting it open, allowing DK and Diddy to enter inside. New to the Game Boy Advance version is that of intros to the bonus stages, briefly detailing the goal of each bonus stage, such as collecting prizes in the form of bananas, reaching the exit, etc. Barrel cannons that launch DK and Diddy to bonus areas have the letter "B" on them, much like the SNES sequels have, a change compared to the OG DKC on the same platform.

DK rolls out the steel barrel for this Kremling. What a gracious host!

There is also an incentive to collect the four K-O-N-G letters in each level. Unlike the SNES original, these are tracked in the level list accessed from the pause menu. You can also see how many bonus areas are in each level and how many you've discovered. Doing these tasks in all levels unlocks artwork in the gallery. You also unlock new artwork by finding blue camera collectibles in levels and from defeating enemies in certain ways, such as beating the strongest normal Kremling, Krusha, while riding Rambi the Rhino, for instance. There are over 50 unique pieces of artwork, so this adds some longevity and added replay value to the game.

K-O-N-G letters: Not just for 1-ups anymore!

Another new aspect to Donkey Kong Country's Game Boy Advance port, and related to the aforementioned artwork in the gallery, is that of mini-games. Both Funky Kong and Candy Kong host their respective games. Whereas Funky Kong's locations on the world map still grant the ability to fly between already-played worlds, Candy Kong's stall is all about her mini-game, as saving can be done any time on the map. This is of course helpful for portable play, where you can play a level and then put your game down for a bit for some bite-sized fun when possible. 

Funky's mini-game involve moving your Kong along Enguarde the Swordfish as you fish up specific catches in the water within a time limit. Fishing up the wrong catch takes time away from the clock, while fishing up the same catch in batches is how to succeed. Meanwhile, Candy Kong's mini-game has you pressing buttons in time to the music, and if you genuinely lack a satisfactory level of rhythm like I do, you can just watch the proper button or D-pad direction move along the screen and press it when it enters the target range. Successfully completing each mini-game in each world unlocks new artwork for the gallery as well. Cranky Kong also sets up his cabin in each world, and he basically serves a similar role like the Super Nintendo original, providing hints, though this time to not just bonus stage locations but how to obtain new artwork images as well.

Are we in the groove, or did we all just step in some Kremling poop?

While all these bonuses and new additions are indeed nice, an issue, though, and the Elle the Elephant in the room is that the game is massively compromised on the Game Boy Advance hardware and watered down in presentation, which was arguably one of the most impressive aspects of the Super Nintendo original when it launched in 1994. What you have is somewhere graphically between the Super Nintendo original and the Game Boy Color port, with the Game Boy Advance version coming in much closer to the GBC port than anything else. The level of detail is nowhere near its SNES brethren, which is understandable since the GBA is not exactly a portable SNES in tech, but where things get super disappointing is with the soundtrack. The Game Boy Advance's weak soundchip does little justice to the original SNES music. It's a pale imitation in some aspects.

The visual and audio experience on DKC's GBA port is definitely a downgrade.

Furthermore, there is a gameplay issue that was not in the Super Nintendo version either. In the SNES version, the camera was generally locked to certain parts of levels. In the Game Boy Advance version, the camera focuses on DK and Diddy, meaning that when they jump, the camera follows them. This means that if you make a high leap, you basically have initiated a blind jump, as the camera scrolls up and doesn't show where you're about to land until it's close to too late. This was not a problem in the Super Nintendo original, so it makes for some cheap moments where death by pit happen more than I would have liked and more than the developer probably intended with the Game Boy Advance version.

Not going to let this monkey make a monkey out of Diddy! 
Well, technically, Diddy IS a monkey, but still! You know what I mean!

Otherwise, this is a very similar game to the Super Nintendo version, offering the familiar fun gameplay and superb level design brimming with secrets, iterating on mechanics, gimmicks, and concepts, and bringing with it a usually fair challenge, as well. Yes, the start of the fourth world in the game, Gorilla Glacier, remains an incredible spike in difficulty that quickly resolves itself and settles back down, but overall, the difficulty curve is otherwise gentle. This is still a challenging platformer, but not to the level of say, Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii, the 3DS, and recently the HD version on the Switch. 

If you've played the original Donkey Kong Country countless times through the years like I have, and you want a different take on the original DKC, then the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country is worthwhile and serviceable enough. The new additions in the form of new story elements, increased replay value through collecting all of the gallery images in the game, and some of quality of life changes don't exactly make up for the lackluster implementation of the presentation or the camera issues, but it does make for a fresh take on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's first adventure together. Back in 1994 it was the beginning of a beautiful new direction for Donkey Kong, both to look at and obviously to play, and the Game Boy Advance doesn't do a horrible job at emulating that; it just doesn't exactly do a great job either.

[SPC Says: C+] 

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (NSW) Review

I've been meaning to--ahem--return to this game to give it the SPC review treatment. It's a good thing I waited, as when I originally was going to review Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, the early 2026 update hadn't come out yet. No one knew it was even a thing until it released! If I had reviewed this game prior to the patch/update, my thoughts on this HD remaster would have been less, for sure. Read on to see exactly why that is with this, the SuperPhillip Central review.

The Definitive Donkey Kong Country Returns

Donkey Kong has no doubt been making a bit of a comeback in the spotlight. Not to say he's been totally ignored these past several years, but with a monumental (and absolutely excellent) Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive 3D platformer, appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (with a rumor of a movie of his own coming down the banana chute), and a dedicated space in the Super Nintendo World theme park, Nintendo's great gorilla is getting quite the resurgence in fame. 

No doubt as a means to capitalize further on DK and friends was Nintendo's recent patch and update to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, which originally released on the Nintendo Switch early last year. Adding a slew of new--and most importantly FREE--features to the game, I felt it was more than well worth returning to Returns for a fourth (!!) playthrough.  

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD begins with a new threat besieging Donkey Kong's island, the Tiki Tribe, hypnotizing the isle's residents and having them take DK's prized banana hoard away. They attempt and fail to hypnotize DK, resulting in him rushing out of his home to reclaim his rightful banana prize. While nowhere near the popularity of the Kremling Krew, the Tiki Tribe do offer themselves as decent enough villains all the same. 

Returning to Donkey Kong Country... Dixie Kong!

If you've played Donkey Kong Country Returns in the past, whether the Wii original or the Nintendo 3DS port--or heck, even any Donkey Kong Country game previously--you probably know what you're in for. Returns HD sports eight worlds in its story, with a ninth being unlockable. Only through collecting KONG letters in each level of a given world will an extra level in that world open up. Through beating all eight extra "K" levels, one in each world, the final unlockable, purely optional world unlocks.

Donkey and Diddy Kong opt to ruffle these birds' feathers.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD's eight worlds each contain a variety of levels and theming to them. From world 1's Jungle that introduces players to the game and most of its gameplay mechanics, to world 2's Beach which brings forth a new mechanic in one of its levels, that of the rocket barrel. This has players carefully pressing and letting off of the B button to raise and lower the barrel as automatically moves through auto-scrolling levels. The aim here is to evade and avoid walls, ceilings, and other hazards, as one hit means the monkeys are dead meat immediately, then.

Don't be fooled by DK's three hearts--it only takes one hit to perish on a rocket barrel!

The levels themselves each introduce a different kind of gimmick to them, and I say "gimmick" in a complimentary and positive way rather than a negative one. Players will find themselves constantly seeing new level mechanics throughout their adventures with the Kongs. These are iterated on wonderfully throughout each level--whether that's running away from a horde of pursuing spiders, carefully avoiding the rising tide that hopes to wash away errant Kongs, or moving through a labyrinth of switches that when brushed up against, changes which platforms are solid and which disappear.

Really, the design with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is so phenomenal, and Retro Studios did a fabulous job with making fun, engaging, and also quite challenging levels. The only real gripes I have with the adventure, and these remain the same since the Wii release, are that bonus areas often repeat through the same dozen or so variants and that world 4 is a tiring endurance run of mine cart and rocket barrel levels. I still don't really enjoy world 4 because of that reason. 

Rambi rides again, but unfortunately he remains the only playable animal buddy in Returns HD.

I mentioned in the tagline that Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the definitive version of the game that originated on the Wii. It has readily available local co-op play for two players like the Wii original, and has the bells and whistles of the Nintendo 3DS port, including a more accessible difficulty mode, helpful items to bring along inside levels, and the eight 3DS-exclusive levels that unlock after the initial credits have rolled. And of course, the Wii original's motion controls are totally optional this time around.

However, the Nintendo Switch version was not always definitive. It was only until a recent patch/update (as of earlier this year) that remedied a rather large problem with co-op play. In the original Switch version prior to the update, bouncing off an enemy would defeat it immediately, meaning if a second player was following closely, they'd end up falling down below with no recourse. With this recent update, when the first player bounces off an enemy, there's a little delay for the second player to be able to bounce off the enemy as well before it's defeated. This makes co-op SO much better, and it wasn't an issue in the Wii or 3DS versions of the game.

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a difficult game, make no doubt about that, but the inclusion of the 3DS's additions can make it less troublesome of an experience. It still won't be a cakewalk, but the burden will be lessened all the same. These additions include a modern mode to allow Donkey and Diddy an extra hit of damage to both of them, as well as the ability to purchase helpful items from Cranky's shop. These are things like being able to take more than one hit in a rocket barrel or mine cart level (fixing one of my issues with world 4), being able to get rescued once from falling into a bottomless pit, and the ability to take Squawks the Parrot with you in a given level. The latter will literally, well, squawk when players are near a hidden Puzzle Piece. These Puzzle Pieces are much more challenging to find than the KONG letters, so it's nice to have that option to get some extra assistance. 

Unlike Tropical Freeze after it, the bosses in Returns don't outwear their welcomes.

And that's really a pleasant thing here--none of these accessibility features from the 3DS version are mandatory to use. In fact, you can completely make a save file without them by using Classic mode as opposed to the new Modern mode. But to make an already deviously difficult game less of a frustrating one is always welcomed, especially in an optional fashion like Returns HD offers.

No doubt you've already perused the screenshots and captions attached to this review and noticed something--or someONE--different. The aforementioned update to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD also brought with it a brand-new playable character for Returns in general: Dixie Kong! She makes the game even less of a headache thanks to her ability to twirl her ponytail to provide an upward float to catch some extra height. This is unlike Diddy Kong, whose jetpack provides horizontal distance as opposed to Dixie who provides both horizontal and vertical distance. It makes getting some of the secrets and hidden goodies within Returns HD a much easier experience. While having Dixie Kong aboard DK doesn't quite hit the levels of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze's Funky Mode, it does lessen the challenge a little all the same.

Dixie makes a lot of the platforming challenges much easier to handle.

The final new addition this year's update brought to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is that of "Turbo Attack" which basically is a speed-runner's delight. It speeds up the gameplay of levels, bosses, and more, making for a much faster, but also much more punishing experience. This is alongside the already present ability to play through the game in Mirror Mode, once the initial game is 100% complete. This Mirror Mode turns everything around, backwards, but also makes it so DK is by his lonesome and must play through levels without taking a single hit. A challenging mode, and one I avoided for obvious skill-based (or lack thereof, for me) reasons. 

The animations, visuals, colors, lighting--all of it--are just delightful in DKC Returns HD!

Whether you're running through the game casually, aiming for a 100%+ save file--and whether THAT be solo or in co-op with a friend or family member--you're going to have a good time with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. That is, if you know what to expect from the game on a challenge level. Returns was always a tough game to beat, and it's one of modern Nintendo's toughest platforming offerings to date. The inclusion of the 3DS's optional accessibility features do lessen the blow of the difficulty, but it won't completely absolve you of a challenge, for sure! 

The very recent additions of Dixie Kong, Turbo Attack mode, and fixes to the co-op (the latter of which Returns HD introduced as a problem) make for a platformer in Donkey Kong Country Returns HD that is a superb, stellar, and banana slamma' of an experience. Fans of Nintendo's great ape are like DK after getting his banana hoard returned to him; they're eating well!

[SPC Says: A-] 

Conker's Pocket Tales (GBC) Retro Review

You know, I haven't delved too much into Conker as a series. Sure, I've raced as him plenty of times in Diddy Kong Racing, but what makes this squirrel tick? Well, by 2001 it was booze, but what about before that? I was always curious to check out Conker before he turned inebriated with Conker's Pocket Tales. Let's dive in like a squirrel burrowing into dirt with the SuperPhillip Central review!

It's his party and you can RSVP if you want to.

 

Before he became an alcoholic, foul-mouthed, crude-acting, urinating squirrel (not the way I thought I'd ever start a review in all my 17+ years at SuperPhillip Central), Conker was a peaceable, cute, and sweet squirrel. He spent some time on the racetrack with Diddy in Diddy Kong Racing, and yes, even starred in his own adventure prior to 2001's infamous Conker's Bad Fur Day, where his sunny disposition took a mature-rated turn, to say the least!

Conker's Pocket Tales was that aforementioned adventure prior to 2001, and it launched on the Game Boy Color, presenting a top-down perspective not unlike what you'd see in standard The Legend of Zelda games. Really, one could say that Conker's Pocket Tales is a creative mix between Link's Awakening and Banjo-Kazooie--that meaning you explore an interconnected overworld pieced together by different areas, and collect presents as the main method for progression.

This barn leads to the first major realm of Conker's Pocket Tales.

Before we get into all that, however, why is Conker collecting presents in the first place? The Evil Acorn has interrupted Conker's birthday festivities, stealing his presents, AND kidnapping his girlfriend Berri. I'm starting to see why poor Conker turned to the drink! No matter--that's neither here nor there! With presents to recover and girlfriend to rescue, Conker is on the case!

Conker has a full kit of moves almost immediately from the start of his debut adventure--from being able to walk, run, jump, ground pound, and dig in specially marked soft spots of dirt that essentially serve as teleportation points between one another--our squirrel pal has plenty to rely on. Soon after starting the story, he gains new tools to his trade, such as a slingshot that relies on acorns found within the world (that also replenish and respawn upon advancing far enough away from them) to fire, as well the ability to swim and dive.

Oh, Conker's trusty slingshot--what would he do without you?

Instead of a traditional health gauge or bar, Conker can collect special acorns that for each he collects, grants him an extra hit--easily allowing him to take damage in the double digits, as long as you keep collecting acorns and as long as you don't take too much in the way of hits. Easier said than done, as while the feel of Conker's Pocket Tales is pretty nimble and good-feeling, the real estate on the screen isn't the best. Conker himself is rather large for the tiny Game Boy or Game Boy Color screen, offering not a lot in the way of time to react. Slowly but steadily usually wins this race, and keeps Conker from too much damage in this case, as well! 

Speaking of damage, there are all sorts of hazards and enemies to look out for within Conker's world, from bullet-spewing plants, to trooper ants just marching back and forth in a line, slithering snakes, wicked wolves, and bosses that serve as the exclamation point of each of the realms that Conker visits outside of the main overworld's expanses. These are generally breezy affairs, save for one that takes place in a swamp. Between the hit detection and the means to defeat the foe (midair stomps that usually result in Conker frustratingly taking damage).

Conker plays leapfrog (leap ant?) with this enemy.

Conker's Pocket Tales finds Conker scooting and sauntering about the overworld to the previously mentioned different locales and realms scattered about, from a town straight out of the Old American West, to a maze-like medieval castle filled with tricks and traps alike. The goal of each area is to find and pick up eight blue presents within each. In fact, that's not just a goal but a requirement, as Conker isn't allowed to leave a given area until this task is complete. Generally, presents are discovered sprinkled about the worlds, whether literally sitting out in the open, rewarded for completing puzzles (usually block-pushing or switch-stomping affairs), or handed out by NPCs for helping them with their troubles.

A castle so hazardous, even its furniture is trying to hurt poor Conker!

Whereas playing Conker's Pocket Tales on the Game Boy only allows saving at certain points, the Game Boy Color--the way the game was intended to be played--sports saving anywhere. This comes through in a pinch and is perfect for the take-anywhere utility of a handheld device, for certain. Game overs do sort of annoy, as the time it takes for the game to roll through its opening title and allow you control to the main menu is a bit lengthier than I would have liked. That said, you do get restored to your previous manual save point with five health acorns to begin where you left off after a game over, so it's not too terribly easy to soft-lock yourself.

Rare seldom disappoints on a tech level with its games, and that is no different here with Conker's Pocket Tales and the Game Boy Color hardware. Sprites are large and detailed, worlds are easily distinguishable and also carry a fair amount of detail, characters and enemy sprites animate well for the hardware, and Eveline Fischer and Robin Beanland's co-produced soundtrack for the game delivers all the right, catchy notes on the Game Boy Color's sound chip. 

Do you like pushing boxes? Oh, does Rare have the game for you!

While the tech is impressive, Conker's Pocket Tales' runtime isn't so much. For the most part, the game is a breezy experience, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. That's considering that even with its 5-7 time to beat the game, it still feels like a repetitive experience, particularly with all the button-stomping and block-pushing puzzles alongside the occasionally tedious backtracking in the package. 

That said, younger players in the day would have discovered something fun to be found with Conker's Pocket Tales. I wouldn't necessarily have them quickly or eagerly graduate to Conker's Bad Fur Day from there, but for a first outing and adventure, Conker's Pocket Tales was a good start. What it lacks in length and screen real estate due to its larger-than-usual sprites, it makes for with charm and labyrinthine level design. Is it worth tracking down to, in turn, track down all of its presents in blue and optional red forms, as well as its party invitations for 100%? Ehhhhhh... let's just say you don't necessarily need to feel bad for skipping out on RSVPing here.

[SPC Says: C] 

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN) Retro Review

How about a retro review for this unplanned throwback kind of Thursday? That's exactly what we're in for together with this retro review of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour from the GameCube generation.

"Fore" score and several birdies ago, Mario and friends 

stepped out on to the tee for a GameCube golf outing.

I can't get enough cartoony arcade-y golf games. Whether it's Hot Shots Golf/Everybody's Golf, PANGYA, or, of course, Mario Golf, nothing gets my love of video game golf going than colorful characters playing on fantastical courses. That's why I couldn't resist going back to the GameCube's Mario Golf title, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. I've pretty much squeezed out all of the goodness of the Switch's Super Rush, the 3DS's exquisite World Tour, and the Nintendo 64 original as well, so it only made sense to move on to the GameCube one, a bit of a game I left to my teenaged years and haven't played in modern times. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is pretty much more of the same from its Nintendo 64 predecessor, adding some new features and unfortunately some bumps in the green as well.

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour features a colorful cast of over a dozen Mushroom Kingdom all-stars, each with their own stats, such as maximum drive (how far they can hit the ball) and arc/trajectory of their shots. There are of course your mainstays of the series: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Bowser, Wario, and Waluigi--of course--but there are also some less traditional picks, such as Koopa Troopa, Birdo, and the first time inclusion to the Mario Golf series of characters such as Diddy Kong and Bowser Jr., the latter of which had just debuted a year or two prior in Super Mario Sunshine. 

Yoshi is but one of the returning playable Mushroom Kingdom characters from the N64 Mario Golf.

Apart from Bowser Jr. who is a secret character, there are three other unlockable golfers as well. These are unlocked through completing specific modes and challenges within Toadstool Tour: whether it's beating all of the side games, achieving a certain amount of Best Badges--obtained by getting a Birdie or better on a given hole--and so forth. In addition to the characters yet to unlock, the base roster can also be upgraded to Star Character level by challenging them to a Character Match, a round of versus golf where the lowest score of each hole wins that hole. The player with the most holes won by the end of the round is the overall victor. Star Characters hit further, hit harder, and are best suited for more seasoned players.

Wario is one mean but decidedly not-so-lean power hitter!

Toadstool Tour contains a wide amount of modes to play through aside from the Character Match. Tournament is the main means of unlocking new courses. You compete against a field of computer opponents to get the best score by the end of the round. The required score to come in first place seldom, if ever, changes, so it's less about "beating the field" and more "beating a certain score". There's also Ring Shot, which pits players against multiple holes across all six courses. The goal here is to hit your shots through all of the rings, and then successfully sink your ball into the hole with par or better. Easier said than done in later stages, as on many occasions you'll be tasked with hitting your shot far out of the safety of fairways and usually into bunkers, rough, and other hazards you'd usually wish to avoid. 

Additionally, Practice Games help hone your golf skills, such as chipping, putting, and approaching. They each come in novice, intermediate, and expert modes. Then, there's the Near-Pin Challenge, taking place on the lone Par 3 short course in the game, Congo Canopy. Here, you're tasked with driving the ball as close to the pin as possible without missing the green. Birdie Challenge is an even more challenging version of this, tasking players with getting consecutive birdies on every hole within this treetop course.

Where Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour really shines mode-wise is in its multiplayer repertoire. For one, up to four players can play together, whether on separate controllers or sharing controllers or a controller. The multiplayer suite of modes includes traditional Stroke, Match, and Skins play that are all no stranger to any golf game worth their downswing, but also two-on-two Doubles play, playing with a randomized and limited amount of clubs in Club Slots mode, the coin-collecting Coin Shoot mode, and myriad more.

Up to four alternating players can take to the links together in one of many multiplayer modes.

Toadstool Tour's tournaments, modes, and matches are played across seven unique 18-hole courses, one of which--the aforementioned Congo Canopy set in DK's Jungle--is the sole Par 3 short course. The initial two courses are pretty much standard fare and could be mistaken for real courses in a traditional golf game for the most part. It's not until you get to the desert ruins and canyons of Shifting Sands, the third course in the game, where things become more exotic and interesting. 

While courses like Cheep Cheep Falls are generally grounded golfing experiences...

It's a big shift from the starting two courses, Lakitu Valley and Cheep Cheep Falls, where fairways are large, greens are gentle, hazards are rare, and the courses are more grounded, to the final two courses of the game: Peach's Castle Grounds and Bowser Badlands, where things go deep off in the realm of the fantastical with full Mario and Mushroom Kingdom theming. I'm talking warp pipes that whisk your ball away closer to (or sometimes even further away from) the hole, Mario enemies like Bob-Ombs, Chain Chomps, and Thwomps, and rivers full of lava in the case of the latter course of Bowser's. These final two courses will put even the most professional Toadstool Tourer through their paces. They are TOUGH.

...You'll soon find that there's fungus among us (and plenty of other surprises) in later courses!

Of course, all the characters, modes, and courses within a golf game would be all for nothing if the actual golfing gameplay wasn't up to... well, par. Fortunately and probably without much in the way of needing to worry about it, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour scores under par here. (For those not too acquainted with golf terminology, that's a good thing.)

From typical golf game aspects like being able to survey and get an overview of the topography and play environment of each hole by moving the camera around--an effortless task--to having a full repertoire of helpful information like wind speed and direction, elevation to the hole, incline, etc., Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour does not leave much out to assist you with taking your best shots possible on the links. 

The traditional three-click gauge from the OG Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 is here and present, offering a bit of spin on this classic. Starting the gauge is still performed by pressing the A button, but on the second button press--the one to set the power of your shot--you can either opt to press A again or B this time around. If the former is selected, this turns the rest of the current shot into automatic mode, where the accuracy of the shot is determined by the game randomly. If B is pressed, manual mode is selected, allowing players to time the accuracy of their shot, as well as add any topspin or backspin to their shot through combinations of A and then B or vice versa, upon setting the accuracy. Spin in general is a new addition to the Mario Golf series introduced within Toadstool Tour.

Luigi may be beached currently, but he's ready to escape the sand with a well-hit chip shot.

Returning from the past two Mario Golf games is that of being able to determine where you hit the ball, allowing you to arc your shots more carefully, best used when attempting to avoid obstacles like trees. Another aspect from past Mario Golf games: power shots, return as well, allowing harder drives, chips, and more to happen as long as your character has enough of them left to use. With each power shot used that is not given perfect sweet spot timing (i.e. the power bar on the left side and the right side both are not perfectly synced and aligned together), the power shot counter goes down one. 

For all that Toadstool Tour does right in improving upon Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64, it does do some things that are a bit bewildering to the point of me shaking me head. For one, putting is much more challenging than it needs to be, by virtue of the power gauge moving so fast when starting it. This makes short putts harder to manage and sink than one might imagine. Further, the camera angles at times tend to linger on your character awkwardly longer than they otherwise should upon them hitting their shots. In the case of putting, it'd be nice to know where I went wrong with the angle of my putt, but that's too bad because the game opted to focus on my golfer instead for more than necessary. While these issues are more gripes and minor issues than anything else, they do add up overtime and make for a somewhat frustrating experience occasionally.

While medium to long putts aren't too taxing to time the power of, those short, less-than-3-ft. shots can be NASTY!

Now that we've talked in detail about where Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour falters a little bit, let's chat about where the game goes above and beyond--its charm and personality. Everything from character animations, hole out celebrations, and taunts (remember taunts?) to the colorful and vibrant menus chockful of character, there's just so much personality and lovely vibes pulsating throughout this golfing package. I don't think I'm telling tales out of the clubhouse here when I say that Toadstool Tour really makes modern Mario sports games seem sterile by comparison. Meanwhile, Motoi Sakuraba delivers one of his best Mario sports soundtracks with cheerful, chipper music that really gets you in the mood to do some happy-go-lucky golfing with Mario and friends. The voice quips from the Mushroom Kingdom crew delight, and even has some more fully voiced stuff in the hilarious animated intro and surprisingly in the letters that your Character Match opponents send as a means of challenging you to a round.

Bunkers and beaches abound around the Blooper Bay course.

All in all, if Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour was a course like the seven within its game, it wouldn't be without its unsightly divots and scuffmarks on its otherwise smooth fairways and greens. Camera issues and putting woes can make for an aggravating experience at times, but everything else lives up to the good Mario Golf name. The level of character in the game is unmatched in most Mario sports games past and present, the course design is challenging and enjoyable, and overall, the golf gameplay experience is engaging and worthwhile. Even long after unlocking all characters, courses, and modes, I continue to return to the links with Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom crew, as Toadstool Tour definitely endures the test of time, sinking most of its putts to head home with a gold trophy.

[SPC Says: B+]