Blueflower's Gaming Blog and Reviews

[blueflower999]

Got 120 stars in Mario Galaxy! Oh yeah. 

I just went back and changed the overall scores for all the games I've reviewed, as well as fixed a few minor things that have changed since I have played the game, for instance, me finding more Portal 2 music that I like. The overall ratings now follow IGN's style:

0=Disaster
1=Unbearable
2=Painful
3=Awful
4=Bad
5=Mediocre
6=OK
7=Good
8=Great
9=Amazing
10=Masterpiece.

I did this so that Pikmin 2 isn't the only game that gets 10/10. In fact, Mario Galaxy probably will, when I get around to reviewing it.

[MaestroUGC]

I did this so that Pikmin 2 isn't the only game that gets 10/10.

As it should be.

[SlowPokemon]

Other games can be good too. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is easily a 10/10 in my opinion....

[blueflower999]

As it should be.

Yeah... that's why I changed it... 

Other games can be good too. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is easily a 10/10 in my opinion....

As is IGN's opinion.

[vonpuppin]

Whoa, my topic....has changed drastically! 

[blueflower999]

...huh?

[blueflower999]

And now, what you've all been waiting for,
Super Mario Galaxy:

Gameplay: 8/10 It's your typical Mario platformer, but in 3D, and with a twist. Imagine Mario 64 or Sunshine thrown in a blender with better graphics, beautiful and diverse environments, and, most of all, a gravity based system. It works out quite nicely, despite having a few annoying camera angles, this only happens from time to time, and is in no way as bad as some past 3D Mario games.

Addictiveness: 9/10 I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What I want from games is adventure. Mystery. Suspense. Not knowing what's around the corner. Not in a horror game type way, but in never knowing what stage or level you'll go to next. It's why I love Pikmin, and it's why I love this game, and why it got me hooked so quickly. The Galaxies are so diverse, with a few minor exceptions, that you'll never know what's coming up unless you use a walkthrough. It's not your typical 8 grass levels, 8 desert levels, 8 ice levels, 8 forest levels, etc. type game. It's like this: "Ooh, I'm in a rocky galaxy with some eggs and a giant sphere in the middle... Ooh! Now I'm in a beehive galaxy, and... Wow, now a lava and ice galaxy in one... Oh man, the floor disappears in this galaxy!"

Story: 5/10 Yes, yes, yes, it's your classic Mario story, but, this time, it suddenly feels more epic. More sincere. You'll think I'm crazy, and that's fine, but there's something different now that Bowser is taking over the entire universe, rather than just some small country that doesn't even exist.

Music: 10/10 The music is where this game really shines. My MP3 is slowly filling up with Mario Galaxy music. Buoy Base, Good Egg, Gusty Garden, Battlerock, Beach Bowl, Purple Coins, Space Junk, the final Bowser Battle, the song that plays when you're Flying Mario, Melty Molten, and the title theme, just to name a few. If you like video game music, like I do, you simply MUST play this game. This is literally the best soundtrack I've heard since MOTHER 3, which I played a year before Galaxy, so that's saying a lot. SO MUCH TO RECOMMEND HERE, but here are my picks:

Good Egg Galaxy

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Gusty Garden Galaxy

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Buoy Base Galaxy

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Space Junk Galaxy

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Final Bowser Battle (Spoilers?)

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Battlerock Galaxy

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Character Design: 5/10 Bowser's like he ever is, epic and scary, Bowser Jr. is still an annoying little brat, Mario doesn't talk very much, Luigi is hysterical, like he always is, and the Toads... are... surprisingly helpful. If you played Super Mario Bros. as a kid, (which I didn't, but hey) you'll remember the classic "You're Princess is in another castle" crap they give you SEVEN TIMES in the game. Well, not so much with this one. The toads are actually HELPFUL, by delivering mail from the princess, flying around in their own ship, etc. Rosalina, though, is definitely this game's most original character, because she has her own unique backstory. Some people didn't enjoy the story book scene, but I certainly did. I won't say what it is though, to avoid spoilers.

Humor: 6/10 Luigi is awesome in every game that he's in, but besides that, the dialogue was cute and charming for most of the game; Miyamoto's signature touch. Mario's "Thank you so much for playing my game!" after the credits made me lol.

Difficulty: 8/10 While a masterpiece of a game it may be, don't expect it to be a pushover. Remember, I'm rating this game based on its console. I'm not going to give an NES game 1/10 for music if it does have some catchy songs, but not many. Similarly, I'm not going to give every Wii game 2/10 for difficulty just because Wii games are no where near as hard as some NES games. Therefore, this game is incredibly tough for being a Wii game, but the sense of adventure and suspense just keeps pulling at you until you get all the stars.

Other Memorable Features: Being able to play as Luigi after you beat the game is a great feature that I'm glad they added. It takes forever to navigate the starship, but I enjoy it anyway because the music is great. Besides normal platforming, there's also a surfing game (which I hate), a ball rolling game (which I hate even more), and a game where Mario is in a bubble and you have to blow him around.

Overall: 10/10 The best Mario game that I've seen, ever. Period. Can't wait to get the sequel.

[SlowPokemon]

Excellent review--oh lord, wait until you hear the second game's soundtrack.

Also, you probably knew this, but most of those games' soundtracks was performed live by an orchestra.

[blueflower999]

Excellent review--oh lord, wait until you hear the second game's soundtrack.

Also, you probably knew this, but most of those games' soundtracks was performed live by an orchestra.

Yes, I did know that. I want to hear this orchestra preformed!

Also, some of the songs are proof that sometimes, when done right, orchestra + techno = goodness

[blueflower999]

Added a table of contents! Hopefully this will help people navigate, and will also allow me to remember what games I've already reviewed without having to scroll through so many pages of text. Also added big, bold titles to reviews, to help them stick out more.

[blueflower999]

Contra:

Time for another review. Despite my family being EXTREMELY busy this holiday, I think I'm going to be trying to pump out a lot of reviews in my extremely limited free time. For those of you who play the NES, I'm sure you've heard of it. For those of you who haven't played the NES, but are fans of modern games like CoD, Medal of Honor, and pretty much any other first person shooter, you're looking at their granddaddy right here. You guessed it, (Or maybe the big bold letters at the beginning of this post gave it away...  ) I'm talking about Contra.

Gameplay: 9/10 For the NES, this gameplay is addicting, varied, and simple, yet remains fun time and time again. With the inclusion of multiple weapons including a laser gun, a flame thrower, a shotgun, a machine gun, and a... spinning... ball... thing... gun, as well as a force field, a super bomb (to destroy everything on the screen), and rapid fire powerups, you'll have fun experimenting with all these weapons. (Although the shotgun is by far the best) The game starts with 3 lives, (30 with the Konami Code, but more on that later) and because it's one-hit KOs, this is no easy game at all, but it's not like other NES games with OHKOs like Yo! Noid in that it starts you back off where you got hit, not at the beginning of the level. And besides, most normal enemies die in one hit too, so it's pretty fair gameplay wise. There are 8 levels, each of which is pretty varied; the jungle, a base, (With a totally different 3D perspective, very impressive on the NES), the infamous waterfall stage, another base, a snowy mountain stage, an energy zone stage, a hanger stage, and finally, the alien's lair.

Addictiveness: 7/10 This game is short enough to take a good half hour or so to beat it, yet long enough to keep you coming back for more again and again. It's no Tetris, but me and my sister play through it from start to end every once in awhile, and it's new and fresh each time.

Story: 4/10 I think the story has something to do with 2 men being dispatched to destroy terrorists, which turn out to be aliens by the end. It's not the most cliche thing ever, but it isn't reflected in the gameplay very much. But hey, since when to shooters have good storylines? (With the exception of Halo and maybe a few others) The ending, however, was a little disappointing, I have to say. But I won't spoil that. 

Music: 8/10 The music in this game shines very brightly. Pretty much every stage theme is incredibly catchy, with the first 3 stages in particular being my favorite. There isn't a lot of variety in the songs, but every song is pumped full of SO MUCH INTENSENESS. It's like everyone could be the theme song for the final boss.

Stage 1/7

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Stage 2/4

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Stage 3

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Stage 6

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Character Design: 2/10 The final boss isn't really characterized in the game at all, but it is in the instruction manual, and so is the backstory and the main characters. But I'm not here to rate the instruction manual, I'm here to rate the game. And there isn't much character shown by the protagonists. However, I wouldn't be surprised in modern Contra games, like Contra 4 for the DS, that there is some depth to these guys.

Humor: 0/10 This game has a sick sense of humor in its difficulty.

Difficulty: 7/10, or 9/10 What I mean by that is this: there is a code in the game that has grown quite famous since the game's release. It's the Konami Code: Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START. (For those of you that saw Wreck-It Ralph!, this should sound familiar) When entered correctly on the title screen, both players get 30 lives, instead of three. Playing like this makes the game a lot easier. Still hard, but easier. However, playing with only 3 lives is insanely difficult, so that's the 9/10.

Other Memorable Features: The Konami Code was really popularized by this game, and is actually referenced and used in several other games by Konami, and other developers, Plants Vs. Zombies as well. This game sort of revolutionized the shooter industry because of the variety in levels: not just side scrolling levels, but vertical levels, 3D levels, and ones where you're shooting up at something.

Overall: 8/10 An extremely good game, and probably my favorite shooter yet. If you have an NES, pick one up. You won't regret it.

[blueflower999]

Another day, another NES review.

Balloon Fight:

Gameplay: 8/10 Alright, let's get this out of the way first and foremost; yes, I realize that Balloon Fight is very similar to Joust. But, there's just something about Nintendo that makes this game so much better. It's given so much more character and replayability. For those who don't know, your character has 2 balloons, and must pop the balloons of enemy birds by hitting them from the top, while at the same time dodging obstacles like lightning, an evil fish, and protecting your own balloons. The game also comes with a 2 player mode, and a bonus balloon trip mode, which features you flying on into infinity, seeing how many balloons you can get before dying. For the NES, this amount of options was quite impressive, and the fact that every few stages in the normal mode, you're presented with a bonus stage.

Addictiveness: 8/10 Like many NES arcade style classics, this game is quite addicting. Trying to beat your high score is fun enough, but you can always invite over a friend and play co-op. And then when that's done, you can do the balloon trip mode. This game has had me hooked since the day I got it.

Story: 0/10 No story whatsoever, but that's fine. The "Story" category is only a plus. If a game doesn't have a good story, (and especially if it's an NES game) then I won't take off for it, but if it does, then I'll add.

Music: 7/10 The Balloon Trip theme in this game is GREAT, and the only "real" song in it, but regarding that, the game is a master of jingles. A catchy jingle plays when the fish eats an enemy, one plays when you pop a bubble for bonus points, one plays when you kill an enemy, another when you beat the stage, etc.

Balloon Trip

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Character Design: 2/10 The Balloon Fight guy (I don't know if he has a name or not...) is quite adorable, and so are the birds, but there really is no character to them. Like the story, though, I'm not going to take off.

Humor: 3/10 This game is funny just for the sole fact that the "game over" music theme has a fart noise at the end of it.

Difficulty: 5/10 Being an NES arcade game that never ends, it, like you would expect, gets gradually more difficult as it goes along. But that's totally what you would imagine, so it doesn't make it any harder to pick up and play.

Other Memorable Features: Like I said earlier, the jingles in the game are great. The "Bumper" item in SSBM comes from this game, as does the Nintendo Land game "Balloon Trip Breeze". I'm glad that this once-underrated game is finally getting some well deserved recognition.

Overall: 8/10 If you're a fan of addicting arcade games, pick this one up for your NES. Or, if you're lucky, you already have it for your 3DS.

[Dudeman]

You forgot to rate Balloon Trip's music.

[blueflower999]

You forgot to rate Balloon Trip's music.

Fixed. And thank you! It makes me glad that someone is reading my reviews! 

[Dudeman]

Just keep reviewing old classics.