(11 - 8) 11) Metroid Prime Remastered (https://varishangout.com/index.php?threads/metroid-prime-remastered-writeup.2830/)
As far as triumphant 3D transitions go, only Ocarina of Time can rival Metroid Prime. The surprising decision to opt for a first-person view proved thoroughly inspired, making the game that much more immersive and atmospheric, further aided by its fantastic soundtrack. And this really is an expertly crafted 3D Metroidvania in so many ways, it being a true joy to explore Tallon IV and unearth its dark secrets. A special mention goes out to all the cool and creative morph ball puzzles that the developers came up with, which really adds additional fun and flavor to the experience.
Of course, everybody already knows that Metroid Prime is a masterpiece, so how did this specific remaster treat it? Quite well overall, though the superlative critical reception seems a bit exaggerated once you consider that it mainly just represented a (massive) graphical upgrade, and actually left several of the original game’s flaws unaddressed. Seriously, a game that tracks your progress this autistically should NOT have so many permanently missable scans. There was also this weird, random change made to the beam cannon charge that really bothered some hardcore players.
That said, given its stunning new HD graphics and the wealth of control options available (a mixed gyro aiming setup was the one I went with), I’d still say this is the version of Metroid Prime that plays the best, and OBVIOUSLY it’s the best-looking incarnation of this classic, to the point where it feels genuinely revitalized by its glorious makeover. It remains to be seen how it will compare to the upcoming Metroid Prime 4, but for now at least, this is my favorite game in the Metroid series.
Based Morality Score: Neutral
10) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (https://varishangout.com/index.php?threads/christi-juniors-mini-writeups.2842/#post-31698)
Some might be surprised to see me rank Mario 3D World THIS high, but I always considered this to be an insanely entertaining 3D platformer, boasting ridiculous levels of variety and bursting at the seams with fun ideas and neat, nostalgic throwbacks. In many ways 3D World felt like a celebration of the entire Mario franchise – there’s even a fucking Mario Kart level here! Sure, it’s not *quite* up there with Galaxy 1-2 and Odyssey, but that’s hardly a knock against 3D World, it just reflects the difference between 10/10 games and a 9.5/10 games – and it was always MILES better than the likes of Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine.
Despite this, and despite making a graceful transition from the Wii U to the Switch, what really pushes this port over the edge and secures it a spot in my top 10 is the addition of a whole additional game, the brand new Bowser's Fury. This little gem ends up repurposing 3D World mechanics and power-ups in all sorts of interesting ways, as they go from being utilized in one of the most linear 3D Mario games to being used to explore the single most open 3D Mario world yet.
Now, Bowser’s Fury *is* quite short (it’ll last you 3-6 hours depending on how much of a completionist you are), and the repeated Giant Bowser attacks do eventually wear out their welcome, but considering how this game is sold together with the already outstanding 3D World, these are flaws which I readily forgive. At the end of the day, what we have here is a phenomenal 2-for-1 deal that’s one of the Switch’s single biggest Must-Buys, at least if you missed out on 3D World back when it was stuck on a stillborn system.
Based Morality Score: Neutral
9) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
As the Switch’s defining singleplayer game, BotW casts a long shadow, having undeniably influenced plenty of other games on this top 30 list, in some cases for the better, in other cases definitely for the worse. As you can probably tell, I’m neither a Hater not a Fanboy – and while I’m certainly ranking BotW above many phenomenal games, plenty of people would be scandalized about this supposed Best Game Ever contender “only” placing 9th on a Switch game ranking.
There are plenty of things that BotW does insanely well: its overworld is roughly 6 gorillion times better than the flat and empty Hyrule seen in Twilight Princess, Monolith Soft’s guidance proving invaluable. BotW’s Hyrule is gigantic, yet well-designed – and Shrines do a brilliant job of incentivizing and rewarding exploration, as do (to a somewhat lesser extent) the much-maligned Koroks. Shrines also provide very welcome bite-sized chunks of supremely satisfying dungeon-like action, and even the Korok Seed puzzles and challenges help make the overworld come alive.
There are so many other things BotW absolutely nails as well: the giant sandbox can be enormously fun to play around in, due the game’s myriad of interesting mechanics and how they can interact. And yet the Hyrule overworld being so amazing wasn’t used as an excuse neglect the towns – despite the game’s title causing me to fear that we’d see an entirely wild and untamed Hyrule, with scant sentient life, BotW actually boasts more and better towns than any previous Zelda game. The gameplay and controls are peerless (even fucking *climbing* proved way more fun than I expected), the game is full of innovations and fresh ideas that breathe new life into the Zelda experience, and the art style if fucking PERFECT for 3D Zelda, as well as genuinely beautiful.
However, BotW also suffers from some very real flaws: its extreme commitment to non-linearity effectively ends up ruining the story, and applying that design philosophy to the dungeons just doesn’t work very well. Speaking of which, 4 dungeons is already a paltry amount, but they’re also so thematically and structurally similar that the dungeon selection ends up being even less impressive than it first appears, which is only partly offset by the Shrines. The bosses are similarly underwhelming and samey, and then there’s the question of the limited enemy variety. Last and certainly not least, this game’s soundtrack just pisses me off: there ARE a number of great songs hidden within BotW, but for most of your playtime you’ll just be listening to Little Susie hesitantly pressing the keys on her mom’s piano, and the minimalist overworld music is “balanced” with low-key town themes and outright silence. What a fucking travesty.
Don’t get me wrong – BotW managed to keep me hooked for something like 150 hours, it boasts an enormous amount of high-quality content, and does almost everything it sets out to do extremely well. At the same time the lackluster story, unfocused design and poorly implemented soundtrack does lead to a game which I ultimately find to be less than the sum of its parts.
Based Morality Score: Neutral
8) Super Mario Maker 2 (https://varishangout.com/index.php?threads/christi-juniors-mini-writeups.2842/#post-32648)
I feel that Mario Maker 2 never gets enough credit, to the point where various e-celebs now even push the idea that Mario Maker 1 was better (no it fucking wasn’t, a handful of nitpicks don’t cancel out hundreds of objective improvements and additions, especially not for THIS type of game). For me at least, Mario Maker 2 was ALWAYS gonna make the Switch Top 10, and if anything I think I might still have underrated it – even after bumping it up a spot and putting it ahead of BotW!
Mario Maker 2 is ultimately defined by its two big selling points, the ability to create and share your own Mario levels, as well as the ability to play a practically endless selection of user-created levels. Neither feature is executed flawlessly (the level-creator still has some annoying limitations, and the level search function is bafflingly limited), but both still work well enough, and boast such incredible potential, that they together make Mario Maker 2 an absolutely essential Switch game.
Creating levels is super easy and intuitive, and it really doesn’t take all that much time or effort to create something that’s at least fairly fun, given just how solid the core 2D Mario gameplay is. But for me at least, playing the levels created by other users are where it’s at – and just going by a conservative estimate, this game literally boasts HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of good-quality levels – and probably tens of thousands of levels that are way more exciting than anything you’ll find in a New Super Mario Bros. game. And this is a game that gives you everything from these super-cool gimmick levels that literally play themselves to absurdly sadistic monstrosities that would take you years of practice to conquer, so no matter what you’re after, you WILL find it here.
Also, while I don’t factor in Paid DLC when judging games on this list, free updates is another issue entirely, and it bears mentioning that Mario Maker 2 received several gloriously great updates during its first couple of years. Seriously, Link Mode is something I never knew I wanted in a 2D Mario game! Something I DID know I wanted was of course the Super World mode, which literally upgraded Mario Maker 2 from a Mario Level Maker to a Mario *Game* Maker, ensuring that its run of free updates ended on the highest note possible.
Based Morality Score: Neutral