Matt Jacoby

This is a solid title. First, let me say that I missed out on the original as it was on the Wii U and let's be honest, not many people had or cared about that system. While it was also on the 3DS/2DS (even had a limited edition Super Mario Maker 2DS system) I was simply into other games at the time, especially for handheld games. Fast forward to present and specifically this title. The castle has been destroyed and you as Mario are tasked with doing various jobs (levels) to gain coins to rebuild the castle. A bit of a nice is that the jobs are ranked in terms of (expected) difficulty from 1 to 5 stars. Ok, that's not what the concept here is really about. It's not about playing pre-constructed levels, you can do that in literally in any Mario game. I'm just noting that it's nice that there is a story and story mode to play through here as well. I really don't know how to detail level designing, I mean, just dive into it and follow some pretty basic directions and your off and running making levels. It's not rocket science and Nintendo keeps it relatively simple. Moreover I think that if you buy or are thinking about buying this game, it's the concept of creating your own Mario world and levels that's what's most appealing about it. Well, it works, and it works very well too. How much replay value you'll get out of your custom levels will of course fall on you........for fairly obvious reasons. But you'll eventually stumble onto a formula for making fun & whacky levels that'll surely keep you coming back to this game for years. Perhaps I am over selling this a bit. It's not as good as Super Mario Odyssey and probably shouldn't be one of your first Switch games. However once you've got a nice Switch library of games and you're looking for something different and good, that's where games like this fit in. I would probably say it's a 5 star game, but that it'd also probably just barely make a list of top 12 Switch games to date. Therefore I kinda have to give it 4 stars, but don't take that to mean this isn't an amazing game that's quite addictive. Just that there's a little too much available for the Switch for any game to dethrone the top sellers out there for it. Just get this if you have any interest in it at all, you won't regret it.

Ok, here I need to admit an error in one of my previous reviews, well, part of it. I compared Switch version Zelda Link's Awakening to this Switch version Zelda Breath of the Wild. While I maintain that their both good and wildly different, the change & edit I need to make is, Zelda Breath of the Wild is distinctly and dramatically better. There's a simple core reason for this, Zelda Breath of the Wild was originally designed with the Switch in mind, whereas Zelda Link's Awakening was merely adapted for the Switch. Don't get it twisted, Link's Awakening is still a solid choice and worth owning. However I'd say get Link's Awakening AFTER you have Breath of the Wild and a growing & probably sizable collection of Switch games. Like, if someone went out and got Link's Awakening as only one of their first couple of Switch games, they probably wouldn't play their Switch much, or would play something else more often. Even though solid it's a throwback style game, relying at least somewhat on nostalgia. Whereas Breath of the Wild is a much more engaging game and has far more to do, a bigger world and just plain more to it. Breath of the Wild is undoubtedly the best Zelda game since the N64's Ocarina of Time, and given Nintendo's efforts to recreate the success Ocarina of Time, that's actually saying something. This along with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe should be any Switch owner's first game. Get it, you'll be too lost in the game to thank me.

If you like one on one fighting games and the characters notorious with Nintendo's lineup then this is for you. However one on one fighting games aren't for everyone and while really good this isn't so great it'll win over players who otherwise aren't into one on one fighting games. Also, it's partly a rehash of this series of games formula with a few added characters and some minor tuning that are admittedly for the better, but at the same time leave the overall game feeling roughly the same as previous installments from this series. Not that that's at all bad, if you loved it before you'll love it here too, but don't expect a whole lot of new stuff here either. This is basically Nintendo's way of adding a Super Smash Bros game to the Nintendo Switch's game library. It does do well on the Switch Lite too, I know this firsthand as quite simply that's the version of the Switch I have. And I note this because quite simply not all Switch games should be played on the Lite version, regardless of if the controls are compatible or not. Some games just don't do well when put onto an exclusively handheld system, this game however does. It's hard to give any game a 5 star rating as genre always plays a factor and there'll always be some out there that certain games aren't right for simply because their not into that genre of games. So it creates something of a curve when rating them. However and again, if you like one on one fighting games then this doesn't disappoint. Meanwhile there are some quintessential must have Switch games out there I can't help but think that while most will love it there's bound to be those not into this genre or looking for something that isn't so similar to previous installments of this game series.

Definitely is a game you should look for on sale. While it's a first party game put out by Nintendo, and it is fun too, it also seems to be somewhat niche. I know video rental stores are 99% outdated, but if there's one around you I'd definitely suggest renting this prior to buying it. Really, if it fits your tastes you'll be all over this wondering why anyone would have anything remotely bad to say about it. At the same time not everyone is going to walk away with that opinion, and not just because not everyone likes platformers either. The game can be played in handheld mode just fine (accommodating the Switch Lite) but everything about it clearly suggests that this is meant to be played with interactive controls, which is simply not for everyone. So yeah, either rent or borrow a friend's copy before buying if at all possible. However if games that encourage interactive controls are your thing or you simply don't mind then, well, there's really nothing bad to say here. Oh, and the controls in handheld mode do work perfectly fine and as they should, but believe me, look at other reviews, I'm certainly not the only one who believes that this game really tries to push interactive controls over handheld mode.

Definitely different from Breath of the Wild, but still all the elements that make a great Zelda game are here and are put together nicely. I'm not going to make any comparisons to the Gameboy version that this is a remake of. I'm a middle aged gamer, but when the Gameboy was out I was into the Sega Genesis and original NES. I had no interest in handheld systems until the late 1990's, so the original version totally passed me by.........even if I did have the opportunity to play it on my first handheld the GBA SP. Still, accepting this as a mostly modern game as it's been very much modernized from the original (I know a Gameboy couldn't do anywhere near what this is doing) I'll just say that the experience and gameplay is everything I've come to expect from any given Zelda game. Perhaps recommend Breath of the Wild a little more because it's clearly more designed with the Switch's controls, but also I take absolutely nothing away from this either. Still brilliant, still very much worthwhile.

This should be everyone's number one & first Switch game. Along with getting Minecraft at the exact same time it was my first Switch game. Seriously, I have friends who don't even like the traditional line of Mario games (they just suck at platformers) but still love virtually any Mario Kart game. Ok, this is really just a polished and slightly upgraded version of the Wii U version, but so what? Not only is it still great, but I don't think too many people had a Wii U given it's overall lack of success, I didn't, and so the experience still comes out as new. Still totally what one knows from previous Mario Kart games, just newer and better. Definitely one of those games with ridiculously high replay value. You'll still be playing this 5-10 years from now.