There is nothing less surprising than the reaction by the gaming press to a Nintendo release that experiments with motion controls. Most reviews were little more than tantrums, with the reviews coming off as spoiled toddlers crying about being told to eat a new kind of food. Not even vegetables, something that is not expected to taste good, more like a dessert that just happens to be green or something. Instead of considered evaluations of the game, I’ve seen a lot of kneejerk wailing and whining about motion controls. That being the subject of discussion is a disservice to the game that is Star Fox Zero.

With the Star Fox series, Nintendo seems to be stuck. They have an admirable yet disappointing refusal to just make Star Fox 64 again (except with Star Fox 64 3D, which was exactly that), which is what everyone wants. And they can’t quite figure out what to do with that series otherwise. It is worth noting that Star Fox Zero is only the fourth Star Fox game Nintendo has both developed and released. The original was perfected with 64, but after that the series ground to a halt. Ignoring the farmed out games, both of Nintendo’s Star Fox games have stuck tightly to the structure of SF64, but have experimented with controls. Many parts of Star Fox Command just didn’t work quite right, aside from the game having a story that was filled with batshit insanity. Star Fox Zero, once the player learns the controls, approaches Star Fox 64 in feel and quality.

The game doesn’t put its best foot forward. The first few stages are easily the game’s weakest. It is frontloaded with a couple of levels that use some of the game’s least fun vehicles. Aside from the Arwing, Star Fox Zero puts the player in control of the Landmaster, Gyrowing, and the Walker. Each one has different controls. For the most part adapting to each set of controls only takes a little bit of time, but the first few levels switch the player from Arwing to Walker and Gyrowing mid-mission, giving no time to learn them. The second and third levels can be extremely frustrating due to that, at least on the first time through. After that they work just fine.

While each of the vehicles is a fun time once learned, the game is at its best when it just lets the player fly the Arwing. Those portions are just as good as Star Fox 64. There are some changes, including a view mode that locks the TV on a target, making the player deal with a strange camera or play on the tablet using cockpit mode. It is awkward at first, but it soon feels, if not natural then just not particularly cumbersome. For the most part the Arwing missions, and to a slightly lesser extent the Landmaster ones, perfectly capture that joyous feeling of being in a Star Wars style dogfight.

Star Fox Zero is not a home run all-time classic like the best of Nintendo’s output, but it is still a solidly fun game. At its best moments it is on par with the untouchably good Star Fox 64. It is too bad the game is caught in that inescapable trap that the wider gaming community and Nintendo themselves have caught Nintendo in. The story goes that the WiiU is a failure because no one takes advantage of it dual screen set up. Except that when a game does, like Star Fox Zero or The Wonderful 101 or even Pikmin 3, the complaint is that the game uses both screens and has tied itself too closely to the WiiU hardware. There is nothing changing the narrative of the WiiU at this point, but the unrelenting negativity to one of the only companies that seems at all interested in moving games forward in some meaningful way is why I am feeling more and more disconnect with the medium at large. No, Star Fox Zero is not a perfect game, or even a great one, but it is damn fine game in a genre that doesn’t get much love these days that also tries to explore new ground with how games are played. I would much rather play it than yet another FPS.

Beaten

Mega Man Legacy Collection – Wrote about it here. The only game I beat was Mega Man 2, but I played some of all of them and got close to the end of Mega Man 3.

Star Fox Zero – review coming soon.

Ongoing

Super Mario RPG – Progress was made, a write up is coming. It is taking me way too long to beat what is a fairly short RPG. I am liking it much more than I expected and probably more than I would have if I had played it back in the day. It is definitely the odd duck when it comes to Mario’s forays into this genre.

Bravely Second – It is too early to say if this game has fixed the problems of the first title, since that game’s flaws did not become apparent until far into the game, but it has certainly retained the first game’s charms. It brought back the best characters from the first game, added some fun new ones and kept the spirit of adventure and job shenanigans. I am having a blast with this so far. It can be too chatty at times, and some of the new classes are strange, but I am liking it a lot.

Trails in the Sky – wrote about it here. I am done with this game for the foreseeable future, and likely with this series. I still hope they all get localized, but I am not particularly eager to play them.

Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse – I’m about halfway done, but I haven’t had the time I’ve wanted to play recently. I should have a write up before too long.

Enslaved Journey to the West – I haven’t played much more than the opening, but I think I am going to like this. It is so unlike everything else I’ve played on the PS3. It is colorful and fun.

Return to Popolocrois – I said I wasn’t going to rush through this game, and I am not. Especially since all of my 3DS time is now Bravely Second time. This game is still suffused with warmth and charm that few other games can touch, but that does not in itself make it a particularly compelling experience. Still, I am going to take this at a relaxed pace between tons of other 3DS RPGs this year and hopefully get it finished sometime.

Upcoming

Hyper Light Drifter – I got this for PC when I wanted it for WiiU. But WiiU was a dicey proposition, so I figured I would just take it on the platform I had. Since I’ve borrowed an Xbox controller from my brother to play it with, I hope to spend some time with it in the near future. So far all the Kickstarter games that I’ve gotten have been excellent; I hope this continues the trend.

Illusion of Gaia – This is the first game that I am playing for my 25 SNES project that I am actually playing on my SNES. It was more than a decade ago that I stumbled on this game at a garage sale. I hadn’t actually heard of it, but something made me determined to buy it. I’ve sat down with the intention of playing several times in the intervening years, but I’ve never gotten more than an hour into it. I have heard so many good things about it that I am not going to give up this time. It seems like the perfect early summer game, so I hope everything works out.

Sparkster – This is due up once I finish Super Mario RPG and Magical Quest. I expect to get to it before the end of the month and play it in conjunction with Illusion of Gaia. No promises.

This game came so highly recommended that I’ve kept playing it, waiting it to turn into something good. About two thirds the way through the game, I realized that I am never going to warm up to it. This game is never going to morph into something else and it is not really what I want to play. Trails in the Sky does what it does very well, I am just not particularly interested in playing it.

Most of the things I really love about JRPGs aren’t really part of Trails in the Sky. The sense of world spanning adventure, like the 8 and 16-bit Final Fantasies all the way up to Skies of Arcadia and Xenoblade, is largely absent. Or strong, interesting battle systems. Or any system of character building. Trails in the Sky seems to be largely disinterested either of those things. That isn’t really a complaint. Not all games have to be all things, but I went in expecting one thing and got something entirely different.

Trails in the Sky’s battle system is fine, but the game doesn’t give the player a lot of opportunities to explore it. In the first half of the game there are only a few interesting battles and the game keeps rotating the last party member so you can’t get a feel for any sort of party cohesion. I am sure there are more efficient ways to get through some of the battles, but the game doesn’t really give the player the chance to explore their options.

As for a sense of exploration, the game has almost nothing to offer. Every area is just a largely well-rendered corridor. Exploration isn’t just not encouraged, it is all but impossible. It reminds me a lot of FFXIII, with its forcing the player to go a certain way, with no chance to backtrack or look around. Again, this is clearly not the game’s focus, but it is disappointing in a game sold to me as a classic JRPG adventure.

Then there is the story, in many ways the game’s greatest strength. Even that left me cold. Not that it is not effective in its storytelling, it is. But that it is inefficient. Trails in the Sky seems to be written on the assumption that anything one line of dialogue can do, three lines can do better. Every conversation runs on longer than it has any reason to, until any interest in the game’s forward momentum is lost. Expecting that to change after the halfway mark is a fool’s game. Trails in the Sky is what it is. I don’t begrudge the people who enjoy it their fun, but I don’t have time for it.

The recently released on 3DS Mega Man Legacy Collection is just about a perfect product. Not that the six games in the collection are perfect, though Mega Man 2 and 3 are as close as any game comes, but this package is damn near perfect. The Mega Man Legacy Collection isn’t just the six NES Mega Man games slapped on a 3DS cartridge; it is a crafted collection that does its best to get to the heart of what made these games great in the first place.

One point constantly brought up about MMLC is the accuracy of the ports. This has not been understated. The games play just like they did on the NES, warts and all. For most players this level of accuracy is not necessary. That is why most compilations don’t bother, instead opting to slap as many games on the disc as possible and call it a day. I don’t necessarily mind that approach. It is a great way to discover lost gems. I first encountered Gain Ground on a PS2 Sega Genesis collection. I don’t know if it is a good or accurate port; I do know that it is an excellent game that I likely never would have encountered elsewhere. Even though the usual compilations give players a cheap, effective way to experience old games, it is rarely the best way to replay favorites.

A sloppily ported favorite isn’t the game you remember. I’ve purchased just about every version of Mega Man 3 available. Except for the NES game, which I borrowed and rented repeatedly, but never actually owned. Even to my untrained eye the 3DS and WiiU Virtual Console version aren’t quite right. For starters, the colors are way off. That is to say nothing of the even more compromised Anniversary Collection version. They are playable, but if you put the up next to the MMLC version of the game it is night and day. The games here look good and play good.

What sets this game apart from other such collections is how much care is evident in the extras. Aside from just the games the MMLC includes a wealth of extras. It shows a level of care and thought that isn’t usually present in these collections. The challenge mode is great, as is the ability to practice against bosses whenever you want to. Maybe my favorite part is the extensive Museum mode, filled with art and info about all the bosses and enemies from the various games. It is heaven for a big Mega Man fan.

It all comes down the fact that the Mega Man Legacy Collection has six excellent games presented with the utmost care. There isn’t a better way to play these games.