Logan Plant

If you like puzzles, play Animal Well. That's all you need to know, and you should strive to go in knowing as little as possible!

Paper Mario has finally returned to its RPG roots with an amazingly loyal and visually dazzling remake of The Thousand-Year Door. Everything fans have been begging Nintendo to bring back is here, including a delightfully varied turn-based battle system with satisfying real-time elements and unique, lovable party members who are essential to both the story and gameplay. Rogueport and its surrounding areas are bursting with personality thanks to writing that’s just as sharp and funny today as it was in 2004. It also introduces a host of modern improvements that streamline (but don’t eliminate) the original’s backtracking issues, easily making this the best way to experience Mario’s quest to gather the Crystal Stars. There’s a reason The Thousand-Year Door has been considered one of the greatest Nintendo games for the last 20 years, and this brilliant remake ensures it will maintain that reputation for at least a thousand more.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is a brilliant return to form. Monkey Ball has finally found its way home again with a set of 200 fantastic courses that range from delightfully charming to devilishly challenging, backed up by tight mechanics and predictable physics that put me in total control of my monkey’s fate. This isn’t just a cover album of Monkey Ball’s greatest hits, though, as the new spin dash ability is a genius evolution of the franchise’s core ideas, and smartly-implemented online play adds fresh layers of cooperation and strategy. The underwhelming and forgettable battle mode is Banana Rumble’s biggest disappointment, but the sheer amount of optional objectives and replayability found in its adventure mode make it easy to ignore. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of the amazing GameCube originals, but Banana Rumble is easily the best Super Monkey Ball game in over 20 years.

My time with Endless Ocean Luminous was endlessly frustrating. Rather than providing a relaxing, undersea escape, Luminous’ repetitive tasks and uninspiring environments are boring and forgettable from the start. The ridiculous, random requirements to advance the story feel inconvenient in multiplayer and nearly impossible if you’re playing alone, and the story I was rewarded with is so brief and shallow that it fails to make any impression at all. I’ve always been mesmerized by the ocean, but Luminous turns the deep blue into something deeply monotonous.

Another Code: Recollection is a chill, breezy adventure that’s light on challenge but heavy on charm. It’s one of the most ambitious remakes Nintendo has published in quite some time, and I’m thrilled Arc System Works lovingly modernized this pair of extremely niche puzzle adventures. While predictable mysteries, frustrating storytelling, and mediocre puzzle design hold it back from greatness, Recollection is redeemed by a completely overhauled presentation and excellent atmosphere. The entire journey is also tied together by its instantly-lovable lead, as Ashley’s personal quest to recover her lost memories is one I won’t soon forget.

There are two types of WarioWare games: The single player-focused, score-chasing entries, and the more multiplayer-based party games. Now that WarioWare: Move It! is here, the Switch has one WarioWare of each type. Where 2021's Get It Together! was about setting high scores, improving your skills at each playable character, and competing against other players online, Move It! is much more about laughing with your friends and family at all the ridiculous things the games asks you to do. Move It! shines in co-op, with many of the game's 200 microgames adjusting the mechanics to account for two players. Examples include feeding a giant crocodile its dinner, where one player shovels the food from side to side while the other player clamps down on the fresh meal with their jaws. Plus, it has a really smart system where a more skilled player is able to bail out a younger or more casual player. If Player 1 fails a microgame, Player 2 tags in and attempts the same microgame. If Player 2 succeeds, the team doesn't lose any lives. If you're playing alone, I recommend Get It Together! over Move It!. But if you're looking for the next great Nintendo Switch party game, I think you've found it. Just don't expect the appeal to last once the party's over and you're looking for something to play by yourself. Final three notes: -The joy-con's motion controls *mostly* work, but there are some instances where it's not as responsive as I would have liked. For a mostly non-competitive party game, it's not too big of an issue. -This game is entirely motion control-based with detached Joy-Cons. So if you're exclusively a Switch Lite owner looking for that WarioWare fix, I will once again point you to Get It Together! instead. -As with every WarioWare game, the selection of microgames based on Nintendo history is delightful. If you've ever wanted to run around Ocarina of Time's Kakariko Village as a Cucco, this is your chance. WAH!

Mario Kart World may not make the most convincing case that going open-world was the boost the series needed, but excellent multiplayer racing, incredible polish, and the thrilling new Knockout Tour mode still more than live up to its legacy.