The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D - Nintendo 3DS Review

Developer : Grezzo, Nintendo EAD Tokyo
Publisher : Nintendo
Series : The Legend of Zelda
Platform : Nintendo 3DS
Release date : February 13-14, 2015
Genre : Action-adventure
Mode : Single-player

About a year ago, I was talking to my girlfriend when she was in the middle of playing 2011's excellent "Ocarina of Time 3D" about the possibility of "Majora's Mask" getting the same treatment. We both agreed that it was next to impossible. It was a smaller Zelda game, that from my understanding didn't sell particularly well, and its dark, sinister setting seems to not jive with the tone modern incarnations have. And yet, here we are, four years later, give or take a few months, holding what may very well be the definitive version of the game in our hands. Was it worth the wait?

Most definitely. "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D" is a loving restoration of the dark horse favorite in Nintendo's flagship adventure franchise. Every detail is lavishly restored with eye-popping visuals that run at a crisp framerate. New mechanics are added to make the game more accessible, while still retaining the core difficulty fans expect. And it's a large, intricate game packed with content that can be put in your pocket and played anywhere at any time. A game that, at one point, was thought to only be possible on consoles, yet somehow is a vast improvement over the past incarnation.

Believe it or not, this is the first time I've seriously played through the game, having only dabbled in it in the past. For the first time, I can truly appreciate the darkness inherent in the world and in the narrative. Nothing in "Majora's Mask" feels heroic or grand. Everything is grimy, sinister, creepy. Even when Link is technically saving the world from the machinations of the Skull Kid, who plans to destroy the planet with the aid of a grinning moon, the player doesn't feel like a savior. They're accomplishing things by harnessing the souls of dead characters through putting on masks. The way to Termina's salvation is paved with the bodies of fallen heroes, and as the last one standing, all of their hopes and desires rest on your shoulders. Kind of intense, right?

That's why I'd have to say that "Majora's Mask" may be my new favorite Zelda game. Never before has the idea of being a "hero" and "saving the world" been undercut so dramatically by the narrative itself, at least in this franchise. It challenges the very structure of the traditional hero's journey narrative. True, it adheres to the basic highlights, but does so much different from other entries and other fantasy games in general. There's no princess to save. There's no significant rise to action. Link is simply thrown in the middle of turmoil and expected to thrive, and he barely does so. In fact, one could argue that he doesn't, and that his entire journey wouldn't happen if it weren't for the benevolent spirits guiding him every step of the way. Not to get too deep here, but I might go so far as to say that "Majora's Mask" is a cynical critique of the typical Zelda plot, much in the same way that landmark works like "Watchmen" and "Neon Genesis Evangelion" were critiques of their respective mediums. The "lone savior saves the land and gets the girl" type of story is deconstructed and challenged, and that's what makes "Majora's Mask" so memorable to me. It's something different, and something that hasn't been done since.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of an undercutting if the basic formula wasn't altered somewhat. It is, though, which is another rarity. There are four main dungeons, not eight or more. You don't get to the first dungeon until a good deal in. There are an unconventional amount of side-quests. And, of course, there are the masks. Masks which alter Link's body and give him an arsenal of cool abilities. Skip on water as Deku Link, zip around like Sonic as Goron Link, or effortlessly cut through water as Zora Link. The masks help break up the typical "go around with a sword and some items" format. All of this, combined, make for an entry that looks, feels and plays differently from its brethren, and by consequence, in a time where I've grown a little weary of the formula (especially after the multitude of misfires in "Skyward Sword,) feels fresh. Which is ironic, considering it's well over a decade old.

Of course, the fetch quests are a hit or miss for some people. I really enjoy them. Micro-managing people's schedules, getting little trinkets to get more trinkets in order to get even MORE trinkets... all of that is kind of my jam. It reminds of the old days in the best way possible, where getting new stuff wasn't simply a matter of progressing the story, where players weren't spoonfed everything. Basically, it feels archaic, but in a good, nostalgic way, instead of a monotonous, clunky way. I'm aware that not everybody has the same affinity for this style of gameplay, and I respect that. But for me, it's a fun way to add length to a game, provided the rewards are worth all the back-and-forthing. And considering that the eventual reward here is the famous Fierce Deity Mask, I'd say it totally is.

That said, there are a few new tweaks here to make the fetching and questing a little more easily managed. For starters, there's the overhauled Bomber's Notebook. It not only keeps track of everybody's schedule, but automatically tracks each and every side quest for players. This makes managing everything a lot less frustrating and allows for greater focus on certain tasks. On top of that, players are able to save far more often than before, what with the numerous save points scattered across the map. And, of course, there's the return of the Sheikah Stone from the previous remake, which lets players who need a little help get an idea of what they need to do next. These additions, on top of some remixed dungeons and boss stages, make the game feel like a more streamlined package, while still retaining a good deal of challenge.

The original "Majora's Mask" doesn't look too hot by today's standards. Not so with this beautiful remake. This is one of the most visually arresting games I think I've played on the 3DS, matching and maybe even topping personal standards like "Resident Evil Revelations" and "Kirby: Triple Deluxe." Of course, like the original, there are reused assets from "Ocarina of Time," but you barely notice in the face of all the improvements. Character animations are more detailed and expressive. Environments feel more distinct than ever before. The colors are vibrant, bringing the mysterious land of Termina to vivid life. And, most impressively, the framerate and load times are impeccable, even when playing on the standard 3DS XL. It's a beautiful, crisp game, perhaps even more so than "Ocarina," that makes the most of the console, and on top of that, has pretty spectacular 3D effects.

As a newbie to the full "Majora's Mask" experience, I'm finally seeing what the whole fuss is about. I kind of expected the same old, same old from it, and tapered my expectations accordingly. But what I found was something much, much more. So much more in fact, it not only puts modern Zelda games, but a lot of modern games in general, to shame. Yes, it's a collection of fetch quests that reuses a lot of assets from the previous game, but the extent to how different the whole package feels is remarkable. It's dark, but not artificially so. It's epic, but not lavishly so. It's emotional, without stooping to Spielberg levels of heartstring-tugging. In more simple terms, it's the most stripped-down, raw, genuine entry in the venerable series, and hits on something that I feel hasn't been touched since, with the possible exception of "Twilight Princess."

This may be one of my shorter reviews, because everything I can say about this game boils down to one sentiment. "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D" is an unconventional game in the best way possible, and nothing like it has been made since its release. And now, Nintendo has given us a version that's been improved in virtually every area. There might not be something this unique for years to come.

Screenshot

Pros:

• The narrative is dark, twisted, almost cynical
• Unconventional structure for a Zelda game
• Great art design rendered with gorgeous graphics
• More accessible than the previous version

Cons:

• Fetch quests aren't for everyone.

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Review (PS4, PS3, Xbox One & 360, PC)

Developer : Kojima Productions
Publisher : Konami Digital Entertainment
Series : Metal Gear
Engine : Fox Engine
Platform : Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release date : September 1, 2015
Genre : Action-adventure, stealth
Mode : Single-player, multiplayer

"Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes" was a tad bit of a disappointment for me. While some fans disagree with me on this, I felt like it was a thirty-dollar pass to get excited for "The Phantom Pain," which is something I didn't need to pay for. It was short on content, and the narrative was uncharacteristically pithy and somewhat bitter. On the upside, the gameplay housed arguably some of the best stealth mechanics out there, and the visuals were on-par with what I expected when I jumped in to this generation of consoles. Now, over a year later, we're getting the "hundreds of times" bigger follow-up experience that we were promised. This is the game that fans like myself have waited over a decade for, ever since we were introduced to Big Boss back in 2004. The only question on everyone's mind, of course, is whether or not Konami, arguably the worst major publisher in the business right now, managed to mess this up somehow, in the wake of all the drama surrounding them and Kojima.

The good news is, no, they haven't entirely. "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" feels like, for all intents and purposes, more or less what Kojima had in mind when he made this game. In so many words, it's a bigger riff on the formula introduced last year, complete with some mechanical overhauls and a more dynamic open world. Real-time weather's been put in. The controls make a lot more sense. There's a new meta-game (although, let's be honest, it's really a variation on "Peace Walker"'s meta-game.) Oh, and there's a complicated, jumbled, mind-trip of a narrative that no "Metal Gear" game would be complete without.

I mean that last part in the nicest way possible, considering this ranks among my favorite gaming franchises out there. While "Ground Zeroes" felt like a smack in the face, "The Phantom Pain" feels like a genuine, earnest attempt to tie up canonical loose ends, in some respects. Want to know how Big Boss became a bad guy? How about where some of the major players in "Metal Gear Solid" ("The Twin Snakes" if you're nasty) came from? Or just what, exactly, happened to Miller? You'll find out some of that stuff here, and then some. Basically, this follows Big Boss' fall from grace in the wake of an attack on Mother Base nine years prior to him "waking up from a coma," and details his gradual descent into being an all-around morally questionable human being thanks to the machinations of other all-around morally questionable human beings. Yep.

I'm keeping things very, very vague to avoid any spoilers, but because this is a Kojima joint, you know what to expect. Or, that is to say, you know to expect your expectations to be blown out of the water. Some later (and even earlier, if you pay close attention to the tutorial) twists are downright gobsmacking, and still have me scratching my head, trying to make sense of them all. Now, this is partially a good thing. A major climactic plot point, which I won't even hint at, has left many, many people outraged, crying that they were "betrayed" by Kojima, some even saying that they were glad he won't be able to make another one. I think that's awesome. The move is, in many ways, a massive middle-fingered salute to players. It feels like Kojima's way of saying "screw these games, and while I'm at it, screw you too!" The simple fact that an auteur can manage to cleverly navigate the spoiler-obsessed internet and surprise audiences is something that's very telling to his savvy, his wit, his unbridled love for weaving complicated yarns. I admire that, and it's great to see that "The Phantom Pain" managed to get under the skin of so many people in 2015.

And yet... is any of it really necessary? That's my larger issue, I guess. Yes, the narrative is twisty and confusing and every second of it is enthralling. And sure, seeing some (not nearly all) of the loose strings tied up is a real treat as a long time fan. But I guess I question how needed "The Phantom Pain" was. "Peace Walker," which ranks among my favorite gaming experiences, already had a pretty darn satisfying conclusion that stood on its own. When that game ended, I was under the impression that I understood why the first three "Metal Gear" games happened. I got it. It made sense. But this? A game that technically isn't even complete (more on that in a second?) I'm not really sure what to make of it. There's no denying that it's good, or even that it's very good, but I question whether it even needed to exist in the first place, or if this was Konami telling Kojima to make more of their most bankable franchise.

Whatever the case is, nothing excuses the absolute trash heap that is the situation with the ending. As many outlets have reported as of this writing, the true ending to "The Phantom Pain" was chopped off the end and stuck on a Blu Ray disc as a dinky little extra, sold only as a Collector's Edition bonus. It's a 15-minute cutscene of unfinished assets and concept art, and it blatantly sets up how "Metal Gear Solid" to pass. Having watched it, and knowing how the main game actually ends, this is a major contributing factor to knocking points off a game. It is inexcusable to take something that contains vital canon information and decide to just not follow-through with it, and for Konami to have the gall to put out a game like that stands as a testament to their status as an abhorrently corrupt company. As far as the ending to the plain-jane version (i.e. the version everyone's playing) is concerned, it's a bit disappointing and open-ended. Did Konami leave it open for sequels? Did they want to rush Kojima into finishing the game so they could kick him out? Who knows. This is a review, not a gossip-y blog post. I do know that the result is a kick in the teeth to Metal Gear diehards like myself, and left me wishing that they hadn't even made this in the first place when I found out.

But then, had they not, we couldn't have experienced what is probably the most mechanically sound entry in the lot. Yes, despite my myriad of issues with the narrative, I have no complaints about the core gameplay. In fact, I'd say that it's a better example of open-world gameplay than "Grand Theft Auto V," "Far Cry 4," or any of the sandbox competitors currently on this generation of consoles. I say this because, first and foremost, it feels like a living, breathing world in which anything can happen. The locales feel inhabited and treacherous, forcing players to adapt or die. Living creatures, whether human beings or wild animals, all feel like tangible threats that will mess you up if you lose focus for one second. Whereas a lot of games have worlds that are distinctly, for lack of a better term, "game-y," I feel like I'm actually taking multi-hour trips to the places in "The Phantom Pain." That isn't to say that the game delves into hyper-realism or anything, thank god, but as far as the immersion goes, it's astounding.

That goes for the core mechanics as well. For the first (and I guess only) time in the franchise, it feels like a proper balance has been struck between "man struggling against an oppressive force" and "one-man army blowing said force to pieces." In past games, attempting fight the enemy was a legitimately awful idea, and the controls inhibited you from even trying, forcing you to focus on stealth above all else. In "The Phantom Pain," some missions straight-up encourage this as a tactic in some situations. One mission may have you sneaking through multiple villages, trying to determine the location of a prisoner, tailing a car, then grabbing him and sneaking out undetected. Others have you running around and trying to blow up as many tanks as possible, on foot, in a certain amount of time. It doesn't feel like the tight, polished stealth gameplay of "Snake Eater," no, but it also doesn't feel like the blatant pitch to the shooter crowd that "Guns of the Patriots" was. It's the best of both worlds. Everyone's happy... I think.

But what truly impresses me is the interchangeability of it all. Let's use those two missions I mentioned above as an example. While I decided to stand in front of tanks and blow them to pieces, putting multiple enemy bases under siege and raining terror on everything around me, I could have just as easily played it as a stealth mission, sneaking up to tanks and putting C4 on them, then blowing them up from a distance. And with the prisoner mission, I actually opted to blow my cover earlier, extract a key target, then find the prisoner on my own, killing everyone else from a distance. Depending on your mood, virtually every part of this game can be played however you like. In that sense, it's possibly the most versatile entry in the series, if not the most versatile sandbox game on the market, and can change simply depending on whatever mood you're in. There's nothing else quite like it. And, even though it may go without saying after all that, everything controls like a dream.

Which is why everything else comes as a huge disappointment. Yeah, you've got some great gameplay and an immersive world, and yeah, a lot of the missions are really fun... but most of them? They're practically the same thing, repeated dozens of times, for the simple purpose of... well, of padding. A lot of "Phantom Pain" follows the Ubisoft model of "cram an open world full of several riffs on the same basic set of ideas," and quite frankly, that feels like a really big squandering of a good thing. Because, above all, these missions don't actually feel essential. You get drip-fed some information, sure, and you get some new units for your base, yeah, but the stuff that drives the narrative forward? It's almost never in most of the missions. While most Metal Gear games have felt like tight, focused narrative experiences, "The Phantom Pain" seems too big with too much to do for its own good. When 70% of your objectives feel non-essential, yet are required to progress, what does that say about the progression of your game? Aren't I supposed to feel compelled and taken in by a mission, instead of muttering to myself, "oh, it's another one of those missions"? What makes this sting even worse is that this is Metal Gear we're talking about, one of the only major franchises that's never felt like "one of those games," which is exactly what "The Phantom Pain" feels like a lot of the time: one of "those" games. An open-world game with a lot of fetch-quests, "go do this thing to this dude" missions, a lot of "follow this dude until you learn more about another dude" shenanigans. Now, that's not to say it's not all executed very well, because it is, but for one of gaming's most iconic, defining franchises to feel like just another big-budget, AAA title is truly disheartening.

Yet another mixed bag in the gameplay department is the Mother Base component, carried over and expanded from "Peace Walker." On paper, I like this idea, and I liked it in that game: abduct people to recruit them to expand your facilities so you can get new gear and intel. It's a novel idea. There's something very satisfying about building a huge army that does stuff for you, and seeing the tangible results of your efforts to build a standalone nation come to life. In execution? It's half fun and satisfying, half tedious hokum. Because, while actually using the Fulton Recovery System to get new troops and to sometimes get "buddies" (like DD, the awesome and useful wolf you can raise to sniff out and kill enemies) is a good time, and there's a degree of satisfaction to building a base that gives you new things, the process through which you do all of this has the structure of a "Farmville" knock-off. "Collect X amount of resources." "Wait X amount of time for building to be finished." "Level up X thing with X resources to allow X amount of people to build X thing." Does all of this sound familiar? Like a GameLoft or Xynga game? Because that's exactly what it is: a management sim crashed into an open-world sandbox experience, and frankly, that's a terrible idea. Why do I have to kill time to just wait for another thing to finish building? Doesn't that structure, you know, make more since for a game that isn't sixty dollars on a console?

Maybe I sound overly cynical, and I eagerly await comments and downvotes telling me why I'm objectively wrong. But for me, Metal Gear has always been about open-ended stealth and narrative. Adding in mobile game chicanery for no apparent reason dilutes the core experience. When I have a tense hide-and-seek showdown between a giant robot that's multiple stories all, only to be brought into a bunch of cool-down menus and reminders that I can spend more money to get more resources or play the multiplayer mode, that makes me irate. I don't care if I can "turn them off." I don't care that "they're entirely optional." That doesn't matter. What matters is that they're there in the first place, and in my book, that's a serious problem.

"A serious problem" could be used to describe "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" in more ways than that one department. Because, on paper, I should adore everything here. The gameplay is tight and polished, conducive to doing whatever I want, however I want. Visually, everything is stunning and runs at a consistent 60 FPS, which is unheard of for an open world game of this scale on a console (although, let's be honest, it shouldn't be.) The narrative is engaging and kept me guessing, hungering for the next detail, hanging on every little bit of world-building. And, as per usual with this series, the score is sublime, and on top of that, the licensed tracks are nothing but gold.

Yet... almost every aspect of what I just mentioned gets negated by something, at some point. Yeah, the mechanics are great, but they're often used for monotonous, same-y missions. The dropping of the ball when it comes to the ending undercuts the entire narrative and makes it feel way less substantial. Cool-down timers, daily login bonuses, and micro-transactions make the base-building element feel less fun and more like a million other things I can get for free on my cell phone.

Much like Solid Snake's infamous encounter with Ocelot in "Metal Gear Solid," I feel like this game is Snake: trying its hardest to resist the torture that are archaic gameplay elements and woefully incomplete story bits. And yeah, in the end, he holds out, but he's a bit banged up afterwards. Still strong, still capable, but definitely damaged. And that's what "The Phantom Pain" is: a strong, capable experience that's still a very good game, damaged by corporate pressures and inexperience with how to pace an open-world title.

It kept us me waiting, but now, I'm waiting for a more polished version of this game that will never come.

Screenshot

 

Pros

• Phenomenal open-world elements.
• Gameplay is tight, fluid, dynamic.
• The visuals are among the best out there.
• The narrative is compelling throughout.
• Excellent musical score.
• You can train a horse to poop on command... also make a wolf kill people.

Cons

• Archaic and same-y mission structure, most feel non-essential.
• Narrative is obviously missing chunks of key info.
• Base-building is slow, has cooldowns, features microtransactions and daily login bonuses.
• Feels like a game with several unfinished elements.

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Madden NFL 16 - (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox one, xbox 360) Review

Developer        : EA Tiburon
Publisher         : EA Sports
Series               : Madden NFL
Engine             : Ignite
Platform          : PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Release date    : NA August 25, 2015
Genre              : Sports

I'm a bit disappointed that several people found my review unhelpful. If you do not find it helpful, please comment why so I can become a better reviewer in the future. This is the best madden in a good long time, and while not without flaws, there are a host of improvements.

Screenshot

Pros : 

• - Visuals are fantastic. Players look great and hell even the coaches actually look good. They almost exactly capture Tom Coughlins ancient insect monster look.
• - Presentation is vastly improved. There are many new on screen indicators, including catching controls, player milestones and xp gains. The instant visual feedback is very satisfying.
• - Commentary doesn't suck for once. Most of the commentary isn't repetitive drivel and is actually accurate. I haven't ran into that moment where you hit your receivers in the hands and he drops it and it's referred to as a "terrible throw by the quarterback" or you accidently throw it right at a defender and it's called "a great play by the secondary player."
• - Most of the bugs have been ironed out. For example I was always annoyed in franchise mode when it gave your players stats from last week and each stat had a 0. That's been fixed. Also most of the funky animation issues have been ironed out.
• - Animations are great
• - It now takes a realistic amount of time for the offense to run a no huddle, so that can't be spammed as often anymore.
• - New mechanics on offense and defense are interesting and work well. Back are the great defensive changes from last year but added to it are new mechanics for the qb, receivers and secondary players. In addition to the traditional bullet and lob passes, you have a touch pass, which is between a bullet and lob and is useful for things like slant patterns. In addition you can aim high or low with the left trigger and bumper, respectively. Now one on one patterns have added depth as you can aim it high and have your receiver go up and get it. This adds excitement to deep routes and makes fades actually work.
• - As for receivers there are now three options on how to catch the ball. If you want to just make sure the ball is caught, you can press a(x) and he will commit to catching the ball but the odds for yards after catch are low. If you press x (square) you will attempt a run after catch, useful for when you're wide open and want to maximize yardage. And if you press y (triangle) you will do an agressive catch which is great for one on one situations and if you just want to see some highlight reel stuff.
• - As for the secondary, while in coverage you have the option to play either the ball for an int or the receiver and try to prevent the catch.
• - There are some minor changes to MUT and franchise. While not major they do clean up the experience a bit.
• - The cover athlete. This didn't actually affect my rating but what can I say? I'm a giants fan.

Cons :

• - Some old issues persist, for example if you get outbid when in an auction house sometimes your coins won't return in time to make a bid. It's an annoyance I had last year and while it's slightly less frequent, it persists and sometimes you have to exit the auction house and reenter just to get your coins back. You can imagine how much of a nuisance that is when you only have 15-20 seconds to place a bid.
• - Little change to the old modes and the new one, draft champions isn't all that compelling. At least in my opinion. Other people seem to enjoy it, so take that with a grain of salt. I would love for them to bring back the old practice modes like throwing the ball through rings. Those were a ton of fun.
• - There were some issues that seem to have been only present during the 5 day ea access preview. For example during that time there were frequent performance issues, particularly frame rate drops. Also there was an issue where all my MUT cards, including those opened in packs, were blank. However since release, the frame rate has been stable and the blank card issue corrected, so I don't anticipate those being an issue any longer.
• - The soundtrack isn't anything to write home about. Can't Feel my Face is my jam, but for the most part the music is pretty unremarkable, again in my opinion.

Overall this Madden was a pretty pronounced improvement over the previous which in turn was a nice improvement over 25. I feel right now the gameplay experience is about as good as it can be. Next year I would instead like to see an emphasis on improving existing game modes and introducing a nice amount of new ones. Maybe a story mode NBA 2K style. That would be freaking sweet. 

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Super Mario Maker - Nintendo Wii U Review

System : Wii U
 

Release Date : Sep 11, 2015

No. of Players : 1 player

Category :Side-Scrolling

Publisher : Nintendo

Developer : Nintendo

Who this game is for ? Casual Nintendo fans (Super Mario fans, specifically) that prefer to put their creative spin on a classic franchise/game genre (platform games).

Who this game is not for ? Hardcore Super Mario Bros/Land fans who are interested in completing legitimately well-designed platform levels.

Let me start from the top: As soon as this was announced at E3 I recall being intrigued, however the excitement that usually trails a Super Mario announcement was not there. I was more interested than excited, but with the end in sight AAA Nintendo-published games for the WiiU I knew I would add it to my collection.

Screenshot

The Pros:

The game is certainly well-published, as almost all Nintendo games are. There is significant replay value, both in the endless level creation component as well as playing what is sure-to-be an endless number of levels generated by way of user content. In that way this is the gift that keeps on giving, at least in theory.

There is something appealing to having an endless Super Mario Bros. of sorts. The level creator provides a significant amount of freedom and options to customize courses and levels. This impressive list of components is way more in-depth than I was anticipating, and the game is better for it. I will admit that you can get lost in designing levels, which is a testament to the game's ease and openness of play. The surprise mushrooms that turn you into random other Nintendo characters was a welcome bonus, providing creators with the ability to create levels inspired by other games. For instance, I'm a huge fan of the original Wario Land on GameBoy and had the pleasure of playing a level as Wario that even mimicked the soundtrack and noises of the original game. That was a real treat.

The Cons:

As I read in a 1-star review on here, and have to agree, 99.99% of users of this gamer are terrible at designing levels. Not just terrible, but as a fan of the series, an absolute disgrace to what we are all accustomed to. It's easy to point the "purist" finger at my reaction, however it's the honest truth. So many of the community levels I have tried have been sub-par at best. My favorite levels (insert sarcasm) are the ones appropriately titled "Don't Touch Anything" and literally just has Mario moving about the course by way of cleverly placed level mechanics. Entertaining? Sure. Fun? Not so much. I liken playing some community levels to watching television. If I wanted that I would do so.

I find myself spending anywhere from 1-1.5 hours building a well-though out "this-is-what-Nintendo-would-do" levels, only to play some hack's level called "Follow the Shell," whereas you are supposed to keep up on the level at the speed a shell on a platform above you is traveling only to reach the end, losing the shell along the way, and end up stuck because the shell was supposed to break a brick at the end that allowed you to reach the flagpole exit. This sort of experience is frequently the case, and is extremely unfortunate. It's one thing to flex creative muscle, it's another upload this sort of garbage. Unfortunately Nintendo's requirement that the level creator must complete said level prior to upload doesn't do enough to ensure that what is being uploaded is of any quality at all.

Summary: Would I recommend this game to WiiU owners? Probably, however not without an asterisk. Pick it up if you are more interested in seeing everyone's crazy random ideas turned into reality. Pass if you are wanting a Nintendo-like Super Mario experience.

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