LogFAQs > #949223201

90. Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch, 2019)

You all know what this is, so I'll skip the cursory summary. Mario Maker, in general, is such an awesome tool and such a home-run concept that I'm still kind of shocked it ever got made. Mario Maker 2 ups the ante on the creative potential, adding a bunch of new enemies, power-ups, and themes to the mix. Additionally, there's competitive or co-op multiplayer, and a full-on story mode which showcases a lot of novel design ideas.
So, uh...my big problem with Mario Maker in general? I don't exactly know what the hell to do with it. Generally, I gravitate toward games with lots of specific goals to mark your progress, which (story mode aside) is so not what SMM is. I'm not an overflowing-creativity type - I'm much more inclined to just play rhythm games rather than try to design charts for them, for example. The abundance of online content makes it hard to consistently find good content, or at least consistently find the kind of content I want to play. And the very poor Nintendo online makes multiplayer much less compelling than its potential. My fondness of Mario platformers and my love of what Mario Maker can be at its best gets it a mention on the list. But I'm not convinced it'll every really be a game for me.

89. Contra 4 (DS, 2007)

Contra 4 is a straight-up old-school action game, basically ripped from the NES era, minimal lives + continues and all. The game does a good job at giving you options to work with - there's several difficulties and challenges included - but eventually you're still just going to be tasked with conquering the steep difficulty curve of the game itself. The game is just so damn fun, though - difficulty is very punishing but absolutely fair, and designed that you can absolutely learn from every mistake in future playthroughs. And the action is consistent and flows fantastically well, its always up with the best moments from the rest of the original Contra trilogy. My only minor complaint is really mired in the structure of the DS itself: Action happens on both screens, so sometimes bullets can get lost visually in the gap between them. And honestly? That's all I really have to complain about. I got my ass kicked repeatedly and still ended up loving this gem. With the rise of indie games we (fortunately) have a whole lot of creative and stellar 2D action games once again. But in 2007, when so many franchises were bringing 3D to their DS offerings, Contra 4 was just a straight up throwback, and it was absolutely perfect.

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it's an underwater adventure ride