Welcome once again to the yearly tradition: the SuperPhillip Central Best Of Awards, and it's back this year with the SuperPhillip Central Best of 2020 Awards, where we detail the best and brightest in gaming in the past year. 2020 has been an especially tough year, so there's not too much to celebrate about--save for most of the video games listed in the coming days in this awards ceremony. What follows this year is a collection of top five lists for each category of nominees and one final top ten to count down SPC's Game of the Year--this last top ten will be on New Year's Eve. With all this out of the way, let's get to the first awards category!
Good video game music is something that can have you humming along as you play, but truly great video game music is something that sticks with you long after you put down the controller--it accentuates and elevates a game to remarkable levels. Although calling something "great music" is highly subjective, I hope you'll agree that the games and music shared (when available for the latter) on this first awards category in the SuperPhillip Central Best of 2020 Awards are of a strong quality! One final note: licensed music from games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 do NOT qualify for this list. It must be original music, whether remixed, rearranged, or wholly new. Now, let's get to the winners this year.
5) Ori and the Will of the Wisps (XB1, NSW, PC)
Let's kick off both this countdown and the SuperPhillip Central Best of 2020 Awards proper with a game that is as equally gorgeous visually as it is aurally. It's Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and composer Gareth Coker crafted an exceptionally emotional soundtrack that hits you right in the feels. In the soundtrack there are songs that are mellow, songs that evoke intensity, songs that bring upon feelings of sadness and melancholy, but make no mistake--all of it is tremendous. It's the perfect musical complement to Ori's moving and riveting adventure.
We move from Ori to a more familiar character in gaming, and I don't think I'm understating that. It's Mario, well Mario in paper form with the eclectic sounds of Paper Mario: The Origami King for the Nintendo Switch. Whether listening to the whimsical and delightful overworld themes or rocking it out to the many battle themes featured in the game, Paper Mario: The Origami King's soundtrack is catchy, super and stupendous with its amazing quality.
Koei Tecmo's team of composers once more delivers unto listeners magnificent music with their Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity soundtrack. The orchestral goodness and bombastic tones pulsate through battle as Link and acquaintances hack and slash their way through battlefield after battlefield. Whereas The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had mostly a more subdued soundtrack--which worked wonderfully for that game--Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity brings lots of bold brass, stirring strings, and musical content old and new alike. A sensational soundtrack for a sensational Musou game.
Now it's [Reyn] time for a rearranged and remixed original soundtrack. Most of the music heard in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition got a whole new lease on life with new instrumentation, better sound quality, and much more, making it qualify for this list. Plus, who can resist listing the excellence that is the Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack whenever possible?! Regardless, alongside familiar favorites with brand-new versions like Gaur Plain and You Will Know Our Names, the all-new epilogue Future Connected features never-before-heard music. One such highlight is the disco-esque version of Xenoblade Chronicles' battle theme: Time to Fight! All in all, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition's soundtrack invokes so many emotions, all very, very good, and that says something to the exceptional quality of the music on display here.
A collection of composers led by Final Fantasy VII's original musical mastermind contributed to Final Fantasy VII Remake's overall soundtrack, and the results speak for themselves. However, permit me to speak for the soundtrack regardless, as a one-sentence paragraph for SPC's Original Soundtrack of 2020 wouldn't do this music justice! Final Fantasy VII Remake's soundtrack is a mix of old and new content, but even still, the old content in the form of familiar themes like Bombing Mission, Aerith's Theme, and the incomparable One-Winged Angel have new, orchestrated life breathed into them, giving each a fresh and utterly incredible sound. New tracks and remixes such as Ignition Flame, Whispers' Theme, and more fit in well with the soundtrack, all creating a truly profound and divine listening experience. There was no question for me which game soundtrack was going to take the top prize this year, and Final Fantasy VII Remake is that game.
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Stay tuned tomorrow for a double dose of awards categories when we take a look at both the Top Five Platformers of 2020 and the Top Five Remakes/Remasters of 2020, as the SuperPhillip Central Best of 2020 Awards continues! See you then!
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through SPC,
Not a creature was stirring, save for little ol' me.
A new article is here on the front page with care,
Hoping that viewers will stop by and give it a stare.
Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! It's almost customary for SuperPhillip Central to provide some kind of winter-themed video game list around this time of the year, so let's do that again. This time, though, let's be a little more specific with a look at one of SPC's favorite racing franchises, Mario Kart. The series is renowned for being incredibly accessible to almost all types of players, and its assortment of tracks are seldom dull and ordinarily exciting.
This top ten list is themed after the latter, those exciting tracks, though those that have a winter theme. We are in a new season here in North America, the winter season, and with Christmas quickly approaching, there's no better way to celebrate both Mario Kart and the holiday season than with a list featuring SPC's favorite winter-based Mario Kart tracks! Let's get to the countdown!
NOTE: For an updated list for 2025, check out this video top ten!
10) Sherbet Land - Mario Kart 64 (N64)
We begin this countdown of winter-based Mario Kart tracks with the first fully 3D entry in the series, Mario Kart 64 and its Sherbet Land track. It was a tough challenge to leave one of the two snow and winter-themed Mario Kart 64 tracks off of this list, but ultimately, Frappe Snowland was the victim. No offense to that track or its fans, as I really enjoy that one, too. Regardless, Sherbet Land in Mario Kart 64 sees Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom crew visit a massive lake-like track, similar to Vanilla Lake from Super Mario Kart. There's cracks in the ice that can be leaped over with proper timing and speed, and the closer to the center of the lake you are when you leap, the more seconds you can shave off your time--though it's also riskier. Penguins surround the lake, sliding around back and forth, and also calling a column-filled cavernous corridor their home. Racers would do well to not bump into one as they waddle around each icy pillar in the cave. Sherbet Land would return in Mario Kart Wii as a retro track, and it allowed players like myself to appreciate this icy race course once again.
9) Rosalina's Ice World - Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
Whether in its Mario Kart 7 original form or more notably in its Mario Kart Tour glow-up, Rosalina's Ice World is a track full of hazards and slippery goodness to enjoy. From the start of the track you can see planets in the sky. This particular track has a cold, lonely feel to it, even with the penguin town full of igloos and other homes halfway through it. One can stay on the top of the ice for a slippery ride, or opt to travel underwater and sea the aquatic life underneath, such as the aforementioned penguins. The home stretch features a cavern of icicles, stalagmites, and more, all leading back into the open outside air where the finish line greets racers. I wasn't originally too keen on Rosalina's Ice World, especially as a Mario Kart 7 Special Cup track, but I eventually warmed up to it. Its Mario Kart Tour version is more enticing, so that might be a cause for my turnaround in opinion.
8) Ice Ice Outpost - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NSW), Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
As you'll see from this list, Mario Kart 8 and its Deluxe edition have no shortage of excellent tracks to choose from. Of course, when a game has 48 tracks, it sort of makes sense! Regardless, one of the then-new tracks featured in one of the two DLC packs of the Wii U original Mario Kart 8 and included wholesale as part of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is Ice Ice Outpost. This is a unique track located at an arctic outpost surrounded by icebergs, ships, and ocean. The uniqueness of the track comes from how almost the entire track is made up of two paths that cross over one another multiple times. There are plenty of points where you can change paths, and even some dangerous shortcut possibilities to take in the process. Then, there's the enjoyable anti-gravity to engage with, making for one race that seldom lacks challenge and fierce competition!
7) DK Pass - Mario Kart DS (DS)
The lone track example from the Nintendo DS's "cleverly" titled Mario Kart DS, DK Pass is a ride through the snowy mountainside pass filled with snow, snowmen, and racers to overcome. DK Pass features a multitude of twists and turns, some without railing to save you in case you monkey around too much, and hazards to avoid. The most notable of which are the gigantic rolling snowballs that can clobber unassuming racers like a bowling ball knocking down pins. Sometimes you're going against the path of snowballs, like on the ride up the pass, while on the ride down, you're driving with them. Either way, it's a precarious place to be! DK Pass is especially enjoyable in Mario Kart 7 for how in the first two laps the race is covered with a blanket of fog, but by the third, the sun pierces through the clouds and fog, dissipating both, and reveals a clearer and brighter view of this rocky and rowdy winter-based track.
6) DK Summit - Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Another DK-based winter-themed track, DK Summit comes from Mario Kart Wii, and this game in the series introduced the ability to trick off ramps and other elevation changes to get a speed boost. What makes DK Summit so much fun is that it gives ample opportunity to try out this new mechanic, and does so with great generosity! Almost immediately after the starting line, you're rocketed through the air to the top of the summit through a large barrel cannon. Then, you're only recourse is a windy and equally wild ride down the slopes, avoiding chasms, players, and other dangers as you trick off slopes, halfpipes, and more. It's riveting to say the least, and makes for one seriously enjoyable track to go "ape" on!
5) Vancouver Velocity - Mario Kart Tour (iOS, AND)
Let's move to Mario Kart's premier mobile outing with a game that I have certainly warmed up to since my rather scathing review back near its launch. It's Mario Kart Tour, and despite my myriad issues with the game, there are several bright spots, and one of them is the amazing track design on display. The new city-based courses based on real life locations offer a taste of the real world in Mario Kart, though of course with a Mushroom Kingdom spin! Vancouver of Canada is one of such cities, and Vancouver Velocity is a stellar track from the game. However, this time around the snow and ice are merely for aesthetics as you never really interact with them in the actual race from the bright neon lights of the city, where the starting line begins, to the trek through the surrounding forests across thin bridges and then a windy road of wooden planks. It's a gorgeous track with a great deal of challenge to come in first on.
4) Sherbet Land - Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GCN)
It wouldn't be a Mario Kart list with mentioning the unique experiment in the series, Mario Kart: Double Dash. Whether playing the GameCube original version of Sherbet Land (not to be confused with the previously listed Nintendo 64 track of the same name), or diving (literally at times) into the track's retro revival in Mario Kart 8, Sherbet Land is a slippery ride through a Shy Guy skating rink and then a crystal cavern, out to a curvy patch of road surrounded by thick snowbanks, and finally weaving through a giant patch of ice where Freezies from Mario Bros. make their homes. It's a particularly festive track with Christmas lights flashing around, and the song played only amplifies this feeling.
3) Merry Mountain - Mario Kart Tour (iOS, AND)
Why, hello there again, Mario Kart Tour! Speaking of feeling particularly festive, we move on to a track that is the newest and most recent of the bunch on this list. It's so satisfying of a track that it arrives at the number three spot on this list! It's Mario Kart Tour's Merry Mountain, a wholly original track that first appeared in the Winter Tour this year in the game. Nothing else rivals the festive feel of this track, whether you're starting out in the Christmas village where the start/finish line is, weaving through the windy paths, either taking the ground path or the more elevated wooden plank path to reach the top of the mountain. At the top, you of course have nowhere to go but down, offering plenty of opportunities to trick off ramps, collect coins being tossed out by a Toad-driven sleigh in the sky, and making your way back down to the finish. It's a delightfully fun track, and the only caveat here is that you have to play Mario Kart Tour to experience it!
2) Animal Crossing (Winter) - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NSW), Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
If there was one track that especially gives off a comfy and cozy feeling it's the Animal Crossing track, specifically the winter variant of it. This track is notable for, like Animal Crossing, having four seasons to it, and one track variant attached to each. With the winter version, you get a warm feeling even in the coldest season of them all. The town is lit up and decorated with Christmas lights, snow blankets all, and the nighttime sky illuminates the ground to make for an especially lovely looking place. It's homey and remarkable to look at, but it's also a great deal of fun to race on, too, whether you're in town or riding along the beach with stars in the sky and snow on the ground. This is all the while animal villagers cheer you on to [hopefully] victory. It also doesn't hurt that Animal Crossing is one of my favorite Nintendo franchises, either, so that might sway my opinion on this pick... a little.
1) Mount Wario - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NSW), Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
Not just my favorite winter-themed Mario Kart track, but one of my favorite tracks in any Mario Kart period, Mount Wario, which debuted in Mario Kart 8, is unlike any other track on this list. Rather than being three laps it's divided up into three parts, as racers start at the top of the titular mountain, dropping in from the back of an airplane and drive all the way down to the base. Along the way are slippery slopes, a river running through a cavern, a dam, a dangerous section filled with trees to weave through, and the final section, a segment made up of ski jumps and moguls to traverse as you make your way to the finish line where your adoring public awaits to cheer you on. The entire race is like an adventure, one pulse-pounding thrill ride that like a great ride at an amusement park, one that you'll want to immediately go on again after completing it. This is how the best Mario Kart tracks make me feel, and Mount Wario is one of the tops in this department, and tops this list of winter-themed Mario Kart tracks.
Honorable Mentions: Frappe Snowland - Mario Kart 64, Snow Land - Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
As we approach Christmas, the holiday season, and the SuperPhillip Central Best of 2020 Awards (beginning this Sunday night), let's go back in time for a Super Sonic 3D Blast from the past! It's retro review time, and this time we're checking out Sonic 3D Blast! Here is the SPC review.
A 3D blast from the past
If you're versed at all, whether well or not, with gaming, you're probably aware of the nineties where then-console titan Sega was in a retail and marketing war with Nintendo. The two butted heads considerably throughout the decade. It's no wonder why the two publishers took inspiration from each other, and in many ways, gaming fans of that era were the real winners in the end.
Following the massive success of the Super Nintendo and Rareware's pre-rendered 3D modeled platformer Donkey Kong Country, Sega, too, didn't want to be the left in the digital dust. They partnered with a British studio, Traveller's Tales, now most known for their mega-hit literal blockbuster LEGO games, to create a unique platformer starring their main mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. That game would be known by the world as Sonic 3D Blast.
Sonic 3D Blast served as a slower paced platformer compared to past console entries, but by no means was that a foreign concept to the Blue Blur. On the Game Gear he starred in Sonic Labyrinth, which was as slow as it was dull (in my opinion, at least, but that's a review for another day). In fact, alongside Nintendo and Rare's Donkey Kong Country, Sega and Traveler's Tales were inspired by Sonic Labyrinth in the design of Sonic 3D Blast.
Whereas Sonic Labyrinth was clunky and rather boring, Sonic 3D Blast brings with it a higher level of energy. Don't get me wrong--it's still a leisurely romp with a slow, methodical pace, but not to the point of tedium like Labyrinth was. Sonic 3D Blast, like Sonic Labyrinth, features an isometric camera and 3D worlds, though these are much more detailed and interesting than Labyrinth.
Sonic's mission, if you choose to accept it: recover Flickies from defeated Badniks and deposit them in the goal ring.
The goal of most acts in Sonic 3D Blast is to defeat five enemies, which Dr. Robotnik has trapped colorful bird creatures known as Flickies inside. Beating the badniks results in freeing the Flicky stuck inside, and once grabbed by Sonic, thus circles around him. When Sonic takes damage or a Flicky is in range of a hazard, the Flickies surrounding Sonic scurry away, much like Sonic's rings when the hedgehog gets hit. Flickies will then bounce around near the location Sonic was damaged, and our prideful protagonist will need to recover them. This is easier said than done, as different Flicky types have different movement patterns. Some scurry about on the ground while others bounce back and forth. When you're damaged on a wide area of hazards, like a lava or spike pit, it's quite possible to pick up Flickies lost only to get hit again, thus causing the Flickies to run away once more. It's a cycle of annoyance that can quickly irritate.
Whoa! Watch out for those spikes, Sonic!
Regardless, after nabbing five Flickies, Sonic's objective is to find a floating horizontal gold ring upon which he can hang off of while depositing the Flickies inside. This either opens up a new portion of level or sees the act being completed. Acts generally have at least two segments where you need to recover and deposit five Flickies after defeating five enemies. To lessen the burden of losing Flickies upon taking damage, Sonic can deposit his newfound feathered friends early, and then go back to find the others still around the level, though this will result in a lesser Flicky point bonus at the end of the level. Still, I will take less points if that means less frustration from having to run around like a Flicky with its head cut off to recover both lost rings and lost Flickies from getting hit.
Just like the Paul Simon song, Sonic's slip-slidin' away. (Yes, I'm old, so this musical reference might go over many of SPC's younger readers' heads.)
With its isometric view, Sonic 3D Blast can be a bit of a challenge to properly line up leaps on platforms (this is a big issue in zones like Rusty Ruin and Panic Puppet), as well as hits on foes. This is especially so with every Robotnik encounter during every zone's third act. These battles showcase how poor hit detection and how much of an enemy the camera perspective can truly become. With Dr. Robotnik, so many parts of his machinery can damage you, and the zone to attack him is seemingly so small. It results in a lot of rings lost, and perhaps lives, too, as you bang your head against the figurative wall to battle and beat his mechanical monstrosities and robotic creations.
If there's one positive about Dr. Robotnik, it's that he is surely persistent!
As always, collecting rings is Sonic's lifeline and serves as his health bar. As long as he has one ring in his collection when taking damage, he'll be alright. Rings disappear quite quickly upon taking damage, as they bounce away and Sonic gets into a mad dash to collect them again. So it makes boss battles where there are limited quantities of rings available to Sonic all the more challenging, as previously mentioned, getting hit in these encounters is far too common and possible.
However, rings aren't only used for Sonic's health and wellbeing--they're also used to enter special stages to acquire Chaos Emeralds. Hidden and not-so-hidden in each playable act are Knuckles and Tails, and if you have at least 50 rings, you can enter the special stage. Depending on the version, you either run along a bridge, collecting rings while dodging mines (Sega Genesis), or in the more interesting and challenging special stage version on PC and Sega Saturn, you run along a halfpipe, avoiding mines while also collecting rings, Sonic 2-style. Upon collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds and beating the main game, you unlock the final level, a boss rush of sorts against Robotnik's most menacing mechanical creation. If you successfully complete that, you earn a level select, including all special stages to replay at your leisure.
Dodge spiked balls while nabbing rings to satisfy the ring thresholds of each special stage.
Sonic 3D Blast is rather good looking on the Genesis, which the screenshots of this review come from, but on the PC and Sega Saturn, it's of course even better. There's more detail in environments, there's unique animations and cutscenes, such as Knuckles or Tails personally delivering Sonic to each special stage location and dropping him in, and it's just overall a nicer presentation package. This goes into the music, too. While the Genesis version has remarkably catchy tunes, for me they're vastly outrivaled by Richard Jacques' marvelous compositions that deliver delightfully impressive themes. Upbeat when appropriate and epic and sensational when needed.
Uh... you might want to move out of the way, Sonic.
If you're looking for a lengthy game, you won't find it with Sonic 3D Blast. It's a rather breezy adventure, clocking in at around 3-4 hours, if you're skilled enough and don't encounter too many annoyances from spotty hit detection from boss battles or confusing camera angles due to the less than adequate perspective. Still, there is plenty of fun to be had, even if Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't reach as high of speeds as most, even the Blue Blur himself, are accustomed to. Released on plenty of platforms and in many collections, Sonic 3D Blast isn't too difficult to track down, and if you can play it, I encourage you to do so and experience this unique Sonic adventure.
Let's cap off the work week right with a brand-new top ten list on SPC. This time around we're going to be taking a look at the best first-party exclusives on the Nintendo Switch so far. There's one caveat of sorts, and that's that each game has to only be able to be played on the Nintendo Switch, so games that have Wii U versions, even enhanced ones like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, are excluded from this list. However, remakes of older titles from previous systems are allowed. So, let's get to counting down the best of Nintendo's Switch lineup, offering a copious amount of variety in genres, franchises, and styles!
Releasing over the summer, and after bouncing off the previous entry, Paper Mario: Color Splash, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the latest in the Paper Mario series, Paper Mario: The Origami King. Not only is the game full of charm, lovely and cleverly designed areas to explore for all sorts of collectibles, and filled with a well done script featuring an abundance of humor, but the battle system this time around was something I actually liked. It was worthwhile in the sense that all battles were essentially puzzles to solve, awarding coins to be used to purchase myriad goods outside of simply more items for battle. Paper Mario: The Origami King stands as one of my favorite Switch games released this year, and one that I will no doubt come back to in the not-so-distant future.
8) Splatoon 2
It's time to get funky and fresh with the Inklings from the Splatoon series with the inked up sequel to the Wii U's breakout hit. Splatoon 2 features a brand-new campaign, serving as not just a collection of well executed obstacle course levels to shoot, splat, and paint one's way through, but also to serve as a primer and tutorial for hopping online in the 4v4 competitive modes. No doubt the latter is the main draw, offering a pleasant smattering (or is it "splattering"?) of maps to learn, tactics to master, and a wide assortment of weapons to become acquainted with. I'm not usually one for competitive shooters, as I find the genre to be a bit overdone, but Splatoon and its amazing Switch sequel bring an exuberant amount of freshness, originality and uniqueness to a somewhat tired genre.
7) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Last year, players got the wonderful opportunity to return to Koholint Island, playing one of the most cherished entries in The Legend of Zelda series. It was almost like a dream come true! (Wink, wink!) The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening sees the remake of a Game Boy classic with everything modeled like a collection of toys set in a diorama. The adventure is as fantastic, if not better than ever before thanks to a multitude of quality of life upgrades, most notably having additional buttons to assign items to. Players can even design their own dungeons using pieces of completed in-game dungeons, and while the level of freedom certainly holds no candle to the Super Mario Maker series, it is enjoyable enough. This is especially so if you try to complete Dampe's construction challenges, which serve as puzzles in how you to have to select the correct rooms and place them properly to satisfy each design condition. Overall, it was a tremendous privilege to be able to revisit Koholint Island and Link's Awakening.
6) Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Three houses, three unique stories, and an astounding amount of maps, strategies, characters, and weapons to employ all make this next game on this list an insanely enjoyable strategy RPG. Fire Emblem: Three Houses offers a surprisingly dark at times story to digest with characters that are hardly one-dimensional, giving great performances and possessing a great deal of depth. Battles are as incredible as ever, continuing the Fire Emblem franchise's rock-paper-scissors-esque strengths and weaknesses system, and presenting a sizable variety of combat scenarios to engage in. Between battles, scampering around Garreg Mach Monastery sees players interact with their students, teach classes, participate in mock battles, purchase weapons and other goods, and enjoy one-on-one events with characters. Fire Emblem: Three Houses leaped to the top of the list of my favorite Fire Emblem games, and with all of the aforementioned factors, it's no wonder why.
5) Luigi's Mansion 3
Speaking of entries that jumped to the top of my list, Luigi's Mansion 3 delights with Luigi's journey through the Last Resort hotel. Filled with ghosts and specters of all villainous varieties, the Last Resort is by no means a friendly place, but Luigi and his patented, trusty and literally dusty Poltergust G-00 are there to vanquish all that goes bump in the night. Between the masterful puzzles, some of which spread across multiple rooms for some particularly tricky brain teasers, the showdowns against boss ghosts, the different themed floors of the hotel, and the absolutely jaw-dropping visuals on display, Luigi's Mansion 3 offers a lot to love. That's not even going into the co-operative goodness that is the Scarescraper, allowing up to four players to search rooms of a given floor for a means of escape. It's quite the fright..eningly good time! All of this makes Luigi's Mansion 3 a scary good entry in the series and one of the Nintendo Switch's top exclusives first-party-wise.
4) Super Mario Maker 2
The next two first-party exclusives are ones that I have dedicated the most time to on the Nintendo Switch. With Super Mario Maker 2, everything from the story mode that shows players possible design ideas to implement into their own levels, to jumping online and playing other creators' levels, to designing my own creations and making a Super World--essentially my own Mario game--out of them, I spent an exceptionally lengthy amount of time with Nintendo's Mario level creation suite. Then, there is the multiplayer, where one can leap online and either compete or play with other players co-operatively. The online at first was quite a mess with plenty of lag, but as of now, things have tidied up considerably, making for a much more enjoyable experience. A game where you can create your own levels is only as good as its creators, and fortunately, the pickings of excellent levels certainly aren't slim in Super Mario Maker 2. Yes, there's definitely a lot of poorly made and ill-conceived levels online, but take a shovel with you and you'll eventually find some gold.
3) Animal Crossing: New Horizons
There is no game that was better for a quarantine and pandemic than Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The ability to "visit" people--albeit in virtual form brought countless people and players around the world together in ways that just wasn't responsible or possible face-to-face due to the pandemic. Plus, New Horizons just offers so much with its monthly events, endless amount of tasks to do and accomplish, islanders to talk to and become friends with, and a multitude of furniture and various odds and ends to decorate one's home and island with. The addition of new updates allows more and more reasons to keep returning to players' islands, and I know for certain that this particular player has been doing just that. What is usually a three month game for me with past Animal Crossing games has turned into a yearlong ambition, and that's mostly because this specific Animal Crossing has so much that I love about it.
2) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
A game that keeps on giving in the form of new characters, stages, and updates (though the latter is the only thing that is gratis; the others require paid DLC) is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I don't know if there is a more fitting name for this Super Smash Bros. either than Ultimate, as throwing in every playable fighter ever featured in a Smash Bros. game, tossing in the majority of stages from every past Smash Bros. game, and chucking in an abundance of new modes and features for good measure makes a very compelling argument. There is just SO much content packed inside Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the actual fighting mechanics are my favorite in a Smash Bros. game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is an absolutely amazing and stellar love letter to gaming, an excellent fighter in its own right, and one of my favorite Nintendo Switch first-party exclusives.
1) Super Mario Odyssey
However, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is not my absolute favorite. That title goes to none other than Super Mario Odyssey, Mario's biggest and boldest 3D platforming outing. The amount of freedom that players have to reach destinations throughout the expansive kingdoms featured in Odyssey is something to truly behold. The additions to Mario's move set thanks to Cappy, his throwable hat, makes his repertoire of moves his grandest and most ambitious yet. Never has Mario controlled so exquisitely, feeling so tight, enabling such mobility. Plus, the expansive kingdoms that Mario gets to explore is something to cherish, too, delivering impressive platforming challenges, myriad enemies and objects to capture, sights to see and take in, and wonders behind every corner. The Power Moons are fun to find, as well, giving players motivation and rewarding curiosity every step of the way. Super Mario Odyssey is a fantastic title, and one that I routinely return to since it just plays so well, feels so good, and makes me so happy when I'm in the act of playing it.
Honorable Mentions:
ARMS, Ring Fit Adventure, Yoshi's Crafted World, Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! / Let's Go, Eevee!
Which Nintendo Switch first-party exclusives are your favorites? Drop a comment below to let the SPC community know!
After our review of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, SPC continues this month of review with an interesting hybrid, an unlikely fusion of genres that ultimately works wonderfully with the Team17-published and Moi Rai Games-developed Monster Sanctuary. Here is the SPC review.
Pokemon meets Metroid in one engaging mashup
Like pineapple on pizza (I know, what a timely example that folks aren't completely over debating by now), there are certain combinations of items and things that shouldn't go together and work. Just like cuisine, there are certain combinations of genres that seem like they shouldn't work at first. A Pokemon capturing and battling game with a Metroidvania interconnected world and platforming doesn't come across as something that should work. However, like the combo of cereal and milk, peanut butter and chocolate, or perhaps pineapple and pizza, Moi Rai Games' Monster Sanctuary actually does work--for the most part.
Encounters in the game begin when you walk into a group of monsters. From there, it's battling time!
Monster Sanctuary begins with you selecting your character and your accompanying first monster to join your cause. I selected a fiery red lion who I attempted to be clever and name "Firion". After this, you're thrust into the 2D platforming Metroidvania world of the game, where you run into enemy groups to initiate battles, search high and low for treasures to obtain items to equip to your monsters, and follow along with a story that deals with alchemists attempting to make the Monster Sanctuary a less than ideal place.
The platforming is simple and basic, but it gets the job done. Areas have ample opportunities to show off your platforming prowess, but there's really little in the level design that truly wows, despite areas connecting in a logical fashion. This is because most rooms are simply put together as an assortment of platforms large and small with nothing really to distinguish them too well from one another. There aren't any set pieces to speak of, or notable landmarks either, though there are occasional enjoyable puzzles to be found. The different areas offer visual variety, at least, to make up for the game lacking a fair deal of platforming variety. Though starting off with rather creatively unremarkable areas like your token caves, forests, and tundra--as you progress, the areas become more imaginative, such as moving through a sunny underground biodome or entering a mechanical marvel of a clock tower.
Puzzles such as this one break up the platforming and battling, and are generally fun to solve.
Getting around the world of Monster Sanctuary is made easy by ample fast travel points, as well as with the monsters you capture that help you explore more parts of the world. Most monsters have at least one ability that allows you to make new progress in the world, or at the very least enter into areas you otherwise wouldn't be able. Some monsters can activate specific elemental switches, while others can temporarily use their wings to carry you a short distance, or slash vines and breakable walls to reveal secrets. Most of the time these abilities help lead you to optional discoveries, but occasionally you'll need certain abilities to make story progress. Thus, monsters serve a secondary purpose outside of battle as essentially keys to open locked areas. That is in addition to the actual, literal keys you come across in your journey.
Use this bird monster's ability to score some extra distance via its wings.
You come across treasures around the world of Monster Sanctuary as well, and these have all sorts of goodies and delights to discover. From weapons and accessories that can be equipped to your monsters to make them stronger, to materials that can be used to upgrade said equipment, it's a great idea to seek out as many chests that are sprinkled throughout the Monster Sanctuary to give yourself an edge in battle.
That treasure chest's contents are as good as mine!
Speaking of, battles in Monster Sanctuary are usually 3v3 encounters, where teams of monsters duke it out to see which team comes out on top. These aren't your quick encounters, either, as battles can last quite awhile. For example, many of my battles lasted upwards of at least six turns, and that's tackling and defeating three monsters, most of which use buffs and debuffs to prolong things. This combined with the fact that in order to have any semblance of a fighting chance to make progress against forced encounters, you'll need to do a substantial amount of grinding for experience, and you have an occasionally tiring and taxing adventure. While there is an option to speed up battle animations by double, this doesn't necessarily make these encounters short experiences.
When you're in one of Monster Sanctuary's battles, you're in it for the long haul with how lengthy these encounters can usually be!
Furthermore, enemies seem to always be at or higher than your level when you enter new areas. This of course only heightens the need for tedious grinding, and it makes it so you never feel that powerful despite seeing your monsters' levels increase. This also creates issues with balance and the aforementioned lengthy and slow pace of battles. Multiple times I'd get frustrated that despite all of my hard work at leveling my monsters, thinking I'd be sufficiently leveled for the next areas, as soon as I entered, I'd see enemies at higher levels, who would easily decimate my team. Moments like this really killed my motivation to continue playing the game at times.
As battles are slowly plodded through and (hopefully) won, monsters in your party earn experience that eventually levels them up, not just making them stronger, but also rewarding them skill points that can be used on various skill trees. These allow your monsters to learn new moves, increased powers and uses for said new moves, abilities, stat increases, buffs, debuffs, and much more.
Much like its inspiration from Pokemon, you can have monsters join your team. However, this is done differently than in Game Freak's creation. Depending on how quickly you complete a battle and how well you perform, a tally of points is earned at the end of each encounter. Up to five stars can be earned, and the more stars you get, the better the likelihood is that you'll receive a monster egg (in addition to dropped items, including ones of higher rarities), which can be hatched immediately from the item menu. Monsters can also be evolved by giving them special items at a unique location in the game, and if you really want an extended adventure in the Monster Sanctuary, you can attempt to capture and collect all 101 monsters within. This can make the 20+ hour adventure a 30+ hour one! Either way, you're going to have a lengthy and content-filled time with the game regardless.
You'll sometimes do battle against other monster tamers in 6v6 encounters.
Monster Sanctuary has beautiful 2D sprite work, and gorgeous environments for your eyes to engage and look at. While I'd like to say that the game runs flawlessly, this isn't entirely the case. I noticed some occasional hitches with regards to the frame-rate when jumping and running around the sanctuary. That said, it seldom, if ever messed up jumps for me, but even still, it's disappointing to see frame-rate problems in this game. More positively, the music is insanely catchy and well done. I couldn't help but hum as I played along, and everything from the field music to the battle themes used are fantastic accompaniment to the adventure.
While the battles aren't balanced to the best of their abilities and the occasional performance problem, Monster Sanctuary is overall a successful mashup of two genre titans: the monster-capturing-and-battling genre and the Metroidvania. Fights can become long in the tooth and be repetitive, but I'd be lying if I didn't say they weren't ultimately engaging. The other parts of Monster Sanctuary are so excellently executed that I'm amazed this genre mashup wasn't realized and done a long time ago. That said, I'm glad it finally has, and with a highly capable developer--as evident by this game's quality--to boot. Monster Sanctuary gets a solid recommendation from me.
[SPC Says: B]
A Nintendo Switch code was received by SPC from the publisher for the purpose of writing this review.
