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In all honesty, this is my favorite Mario Kart game to control. Something about the way the vehicles are controlled just feel right. The race tracks are also fairly well made with catchy music to go along them, and the racer and kart line-ups are pretty solid, including some characters that have yet to return. It is just outdone by later Mario Kart games in terms of visuals and content. Even so, Double Dash is a unique game in the series that is worth coming back to.
Those of you that pre-ordered the game back in 2003 (or got lucky on eBay) obtained a special bonus disc that came with it. The disc included playable demos and videos to watch of upcoming games, as well as special items you can transfer to Fire Emblem.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is one of those games that split the fanbase back in the day. You either loved it or you hated it. The new motion controls that allowed you to control Link's sword with accurate movement through the Wii Motion Plus sounds like fun, but many complained it took away from traditional Zelda game play even though it... kind of didn't? The sword movements feel pretty natural, and you only have to recalibrate the Motion Plus several times throughout the game. Link's items are also created with the Motion Plus in mind, including the flying Beetle, the rolling Bombs, and the swinging Whip, though series mainstays like the Boomerang or a magical item are missing.
Much of Skyward Sword deviated from the regular Zelda-ness, actually. Skyloft is visited frequently to either progress the story or improve your items. It sort of acts as a central hub world, which Zelda doesn't really do. Your shields take damage the more you use them, so unless you use a special potion to reinforce them or have the Hylian Shield, you'll be going back to the Bazaar a lot. The upgrades are created through the materials you find in the land below, which would be too bad if you didn't have to learn about them for the first time you collect them every time you turn the game back on.
The story is also something that splits the fanbase. The story itself it usually praised by most fans, being that this scenario takes place well before Ocarina of Time and sets the stage for things to come, Zelda is captured and sucked into the land below and you have to go find her while confronting the mysterious Ghirahim, and your sword is alive. But the progression through the story is a splitting point, being that your sword spirit, Fi, takes every chance she can get to point you in the right direction or tell you Link is dying when that is already obvious. Comparing her to Navi, Fi is definitely the most annoying to deal with, but she's also the most characteristic and easy to get attached to.
My favorite Mario Party game has to be Mario Party 6. I just love the day/night aesthetic of it all and how it is incorporated into the HUD, mini games, and board maps. The entire game centers around this theme, as the plot of the game revolves around a feud between the Sun and Moon character, Brighton and Twila, who have apparently watched over the Mario Party World for a long time. The boards change layout between the phases, and the minigame selection is different based on the time. This Mario Party has my favorite selection of everything in the series.
Except Solo Mode. Solo Mode is pretty lacking, but hey, a party isn't about playing by yourself!
Star Wars: Battlefront II is a game my brothers and I just keep coming back to. It's got land battles, it's got space battles, it's got PVP. While there is a full campaign mode that follows along the rise and fall of the Empire, we mainly stick to the multiplayer modes (because the story mode has loading issues). We can set up our own story if we want, working together to fly into an enemy ship and take it down. Or we just try to take each other down in Mos Eisly in a massive free-for-all. I don't know about the more recent Battlefront titles from EA, but if you just want to mess around with Star Wars character beating the crap out of each other, this is the game to get.
If you played the original Portal and thought it couldn't get any better, prepare to be proved wrong. Portal 2 improves literally everything about the original game, from the writing to additional mechanics to two-player cooperation chambers. In the one-player campaign, Chel wakes up in a hotel room stasis chamber and is greeted by the orb robot, Wheatly. Wheatly shows that the room is on rails for some reason and bring Chel to the original testing chambers in order to escape the facility. Upon doing so, they reawaken GLaDOS and now have to escape her through new testing chambers. The two-player campaign has two robots, Atlas and P-Body, navigate the lab to find the humans that are in stasis.
While the game still heavily involves the use of portals to manipulate the environment, there are new mechanics thrown in. Most notable being the different gels that are splattered through some of the chambers. They can either make you run faster to jump large gaps, bounce uncontrollably to reach new heights, or make walls white and able to have portals be placed on them. Bridges made out of light can also be manipulated using the portals, allowing you create new paths or new walls, as well as special tractor beams that bring you across chambers. Plenty of new things and humorous content that will get even your mother interested.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! gave us what is possibly the most interesting new mechanic in the Mario Kart series: Being able to use two characters at once. While the core game play is mostly unaffected, you still get two items to carry and a kart to drive, being able to put Mario and Bowser or Koopa Troopa and Toad in the same vehicle is a humorous feeling. This also means two players can ride the same kart, the front player takes control of the wheel while the back player handles the items, and the two can switch at any time with a simultaneous press of the Z Buttons. This also allows for 16 players to play together through the GameCube's LAN adapters.
In all honesty, this is my favorite Mario Kart game to control. Something about the way the vehicles are controlled just feel right. The race tracks are also fairly well made with catchy music to go along them, and the racer and kart line-ups are pretty solid, including some characters that have yet to return. It is just outdone by later Mario Kart games in terms of visuals and content. Even so, Double Dash is a unique game in the series that is worth coming back to.
Those of you that pre-ordered the game back in 2003 (or got lucky on eBay) obtained a special bonus disc that came with it. The disc included playable demos and videos to watch of upcoming games, as well as special items you can transfer to Fire Emblem.
PROS | CONS |
| Varied races courses with catchy music | Visuals are nice for the GameCube era, but don't really stand well today |
| All-Cup Tour is a fun addition to the game... | ...but is absolutely killer to fight through on higher difficulties |
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is one of those games that split the fanbase back in the day. You either loved it or you hated it. The new motion controls that allowed you to control Link's sword with accurate movement through the Wii Motion Plus sounds like fun, but many complained it took away from traditional Zelda game play even though it... kind of didn't? The sword movements feel pretty natural, and you only have to recalibrate the Motion Plus several times throughout the game. Link's items are also created with the Motion Plus in mind, including the flying Beetle, the rolling Bombs, and the swinging Whip, though series mainstays like the Boomerang or a magical item are missing.
Much of Skyward Sword deviated from the regular Zelda-ness, actually. Skyloft is visited frequently to either progress the story or improve your items. It sort of acts as a central hub world, which Zelda doesn't really do. Your shields take damage the more you use them, so unless you use a special potion to reinforce them or have the Hylian Shield, you'll be going back to the Bazaar a lot. The upgrades are created through the materials you find in the land below, which would be too bad if you didn't have to learn about them for the first time you collect them every time you turn the game back on.
The story is also something that splits the fanbase. The story itself it usually praised by most fans, being that this scenario takes place well before Ocarina of Time and sets the stage for things to come, Zelda is captured and sucked into the land below and you have to go find her while confronting the mysterious Ghirahim, and your sword is alive. But the progression through the story is a splitting point, being that your sword spirit, Fi, takes every chance she can get to point you in the right direction or tell you Link is dying when that is already obvious. Comparing her to Navi, Fi is definitely the most annoying to deal with, but she's also the most characteristic and easy to get attached to.
| PROS | CONS |
| Well designed dungeons that make great use of the items therein | Hand-holding story |
| Amusing characters with great character development | Only a few memorable pieces of music |
| Silent Realms are a good kind of nerve racking | Breakable shields |
Mario Party 6
My favorite Mario Party game has to be Mario Party 6. I just love the day/night aesthetic of it all and how it is incorporated into the HUD, mini games, and board maps. The entire game centers around this theme, as the plot of the game revolves around a feud between the Sun and Moon character, Brighton and Twila, who have apparently watched over the Mario Party World for a long time. The boards change layout between the phases, and the minigame selection is different based on the time. This Mario Party has my favorite selection of everything in the series.
Except Solo Mode. Solo Mode is pretty lacking, but hey, a party isn't about playing by yourself!
| PROS | CONS |
| Boards that change with the day phase, causing a strategic level of thinking not seen in other games | Solo Mode is a straight line |
| Minigame selection is great | The bundled GameCube Microphone does not work 100% of the time, causing words to be heard as something different (namely "Mario" and "Wario") |
| An improved orb mechanic that keeps you from triggering your own traps |
Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)
Star Wars: Battlefront II is a game my brothers and I just keep coming back to. It's got land battles, it's got space battles, it's got PVP. While there is a full campaign mode that follows along the rise and fall of the Empire, we mainly stick to the multiplayer modes (because the story mode has loading issues). We can set up our own story if we want, working together to fly into an enemy ship and take it down. Or we just try to take each other down in Mos Eisly in a massive free-for-all. I don't know about the more recent Battlefront titles from EA, but if you just want to mess around with Star Wars character beating the crap out of each other, this is the game to get.
| PROS | CONS |
| Star Wars worlds collide as Anakin Skywalker takes on Darth Vader | |
| Lots of spaceships |
Portal 2
If you played the original Portal and thought it couldn't get any better, prepare to be proved wrong. Portal 2 improves literally everything about the original game, from the writing to additional mechanics to two-player cooperation chambers. In the one-player campaign, Chel wakes up in a hotel room stasis chamber and is greeted by the orb robot, Wheatly. Wheatly shows that the room is on rails for some reason and bring Chel to the original testing chambers in order to escape the facility. Upon doing so, they reawaken GLaDOS and now have to escape her through new testing chambers. The two-player campaign has two robots, Atlas and P-Body, navigate the lab to find the humans that are in stasis.
While the game still heavily involves the use of portals to manipulate the environment, there are new mechanics thrown in. Most notable being the different gels that are splattered through some of the chambers. They can either make you run faster to jump large gaps, bounce uncontrollably to reach new heights, or make walls white and able to have portals be placed on them. Bridges made out of light can also be manipulated using the portals, allowing you create new paths or new walls, as well as special tractor beams that bring you across chambers. Plenty of new things and humorous content that will get even your mother interested.
| PROS | CONS |
| Humorous dialogue and character interactions with the two robots | |
| Plenty of test chambers that really test your problem solving skills |
