120: The Wonderful 101
Part Pikmin, Part Okami, and from the creators of Viewtiful Joe. This game should have been amazing. Instead it was, like ZombiU, an example of good ideas being squandered.
5.5/10
119: Puppeteer
This PS3 exclusive had a fun concept and a good dose of whimsy. Too bad its sense of control leaves so much to be desired.
5.5/10
118: Metroid
It may be one of the biggest pioneers Nintendo has ever made, but it also has succumbed to age. In a game with such a labrynthian world to explore, a simple map screen would have gone a long way.
5.5/10
117: Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
It’s actually not bad. It’s just far too cryptic and many aspects (like the day and night cycle) just seem to be cumbersome to the gameplay.
5.5/10
116: Bomberman 64
Bomberman on Sega Saturn? Glorious. Bomberman on Nintendo 64? Eh…
5.5/10
115: Yoshi Touch & Go
This is actually a pretty fun mini-game, and an interesting display of the DS touch screen. It’s just a shame it grows stale incredibly quickly.
5.5/10
114: Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Nintendo fans may have decided Federation Force was the worst thing in human history upon its reveal, but in the end, it was merely a so-so video game. Still better than Other M.
5.5/10
113: Mario Party: Island Tour
A decent enough handheld entry in the Mario Party series. But it kind of goes against the nature of Mario Party itself that the game is more fun when playing solo.
6.0/10
112: Bonk’s Adventure
Bonk’s Adventure is a fun – if not particularly memorable – platformer that would especially appeal to younger audiences.
6.0/10
111: Super Star Wars
This is actually a fun game. That is, if you can somehow muster up the patience for the often unfair difficulty.
6.0/10
110: Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
It’s just as frustratingly difficult as the first game. But it’s based on the best entry in the original trilogy.
6.0/10
109: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
At least, unlike the Paper Mario series, the Mario & Luigi games can still be called RPGs. It’s just a crying shame that Paper Jam more or less removed all of the depth from the equation. At least the battle system is still pretty fun, if lacking in the innovation of its predecessors.
6.0/10
108: Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)
Why the hell do I have to jump through so many hoops just to play as Mario in a game called Mario Golf?!
6.0/10
107: Lego City Undercover
It’s basically Lego meets GTA, and it’s actually fun for a while. It’s just a shame there’s not a whole lot of incentive to go back to it other than some mostly meaningless collectibles.
6.0/10
106: Star Fox
Revolutionary visuals do not equate to timeless visuals. At least it’s still kind of fun.
6.0/10
105: Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
A pretty decent handheld port of the modern classic fighter… except for how you can so easily spam moves through the touch screen.
6.0/10
104: Spyro the Dragon
Spyro’s debut outing fares a bit better than Crash’s, but there are still other 3D platformers of the era that are more fun to play.
6.0/10
103: Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures
Part humorously frustrating parody/homage, part genuinely frustrating.
6.0/10
102: Spelunky
It’s a fun game, but one that’s aimed towards a very specific niche.
6.0/10
101: The Legend of Zelda
Controversy time! The original Zelda is one of the biggest trailblazers in video game history, and it’s still fun. But it can also be a bit too cryptic and confusing. Thankfully the sequels would iron out the kinks.
6.0/10
100: The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey and Minnie
Probably the best Mickey Mouse game ever.
6.5/10
99: Sonic Rush
One of the more decent Sonic titles of more recent times.
6.5/10
98: Duck Hunt
For being a game with pretty much no depth, Duck Hunt has held up pretty well. It’s still addicting.
6.5/10
97: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Without a shred of doubt, the most unimaginative 2D Mario ever. At least the gameplay is as tight as ever.
6.5/10
96: Mario Tennis Open
Mario Tennis Open brought the series to the 3DS, and put it a little bit back on track before the Wii U edition hit…
6.5/10
95: EarthBound Beginnings (Mother)
The cult classic that we all waited so long for… is kind of just okay. Its more well-known sequel would pretty much better it in every way.
6.5/10
94: The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
Great three-player action. Meh single player.
6.5/10
93: Elebits
If my house were going to be infected with anything, I’d hope it’d be Elebits.
6.5/10
92: Hyrule Warriors
Completely, utterly mindless hack N’ slash action. But the Zelda aesthetic certainly makes it more charming than it’d otherwise be.
6.5/10
91: Donkey Kong 64
Part of me still loves Donkey Kong 64, and for a 1999 game, its sheer scope is still impressive. But Rare went way overboard with the tedious collecting, and some of the mini-games are outright unfair.
6.5/10
Reblogged this on Miketendo64! The News, Reviews & Personal Views Website On All Things Nintendo and commented:
Wizard Dojo has amassed 150 video game reviews. Now the mad man behind the dojo seeks to rank every last one of them.
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Wow you have written so many reviews! Good work! I look forward to going through some of them in the future. Here’s to the next 150! Congrats!
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Thank you very much! I’ll try to keep up the pace to make sure you have something to read, should you want.
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Oh Superman 64… *shudders* My friend and I made our own mini game. We would see who could throw a boxy car and catch it before it hit the ground. It was at least more entertaining than those endless rings.
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I think anything that player could come up with would be better than Superman 64 itself.
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Amazing how many reviews you have on this site. Quite a few opinions I agree or disagree with too.
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Thank you very much!
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Congratulations on 150 Reviews! And kudos to you for ranking them all! I can say with certainty that your top 5 are excellent choices! Most of those are among my top 10 or even top 5. Other than that, your list is pretty good. I’m impressed you put a little blurb after each one. Now that’s dedication! Great work!
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Thanks! I was really happy I got around to doing this, because as I got closer to 150 game reviews, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to write all of this down. But I like to make sure I have some decent content on this site, so I thought this was too fun of an idea to pass up on.
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Congrats on the 150 reviews mate! It’s quite the feat! And I completely agree with Super Mario Galaxy 2 being placed as your contemporary number 1! That game is the embodiment of perfection. Interesting to see that you enjoyed Dark Souls III over bloodborne! I must say, now that I’ve been playing dark souls III, I am throughly enjoying, although it doesn’t have that nuance that Bloodborne did for me as it was my first Souls-esque experience, but nonetheless, Dark Souls III is excellent thus far. Anyway just wanted to let you know that all your hard work is appreciated!
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I actually flip-flopped quite a bit between Galaxy 2 and DKC2 for the top spot. Like I said, the top few are pretty interchangeable… Same goes for Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne. Honestly, depending on when you ask me, my answer could be different as to which one is better. Glad you’re enjoying Dark Souls 3!
Man, I even flip-flopped with putting Mario 64 and Tropical Freeze in the top 5. I’m still not sure whether I made the right choice, but I just went with the fact that 64 has held up so well for so long.
As always, thanks for the comment.
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Well for me personally, it would always be Galaxy 2 if I had to choose between the two. Dark Souls III definitely has a leveled sense of variance that Bloodborne just can’t match and while I prefer the gothic Victorian aesthetic of Bloodborne, the Kingdom of Lothric is admittedly more varied and diverse. I’m glad I decided to give it a go, otherwise I would’ve missed out on one of the best games this year! Oh geez I still have to play Mario 64. I still haven’t rectified that. And also Banjo Kazooie. I’ll be sure to catch up on my classics after I finish Dark Souls. Would you recommend the DS version of Mario 64 or should I just go with the virtual console version?
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Definitely play the Virtual Console version of Mario 64. The DS version may have multiple characters and more stars/missions, but they aren’t always well implemented, and the controls leave a lot to be desired. The original still holds up, however.
Dark Souls 3 is definitely my Game of the Year so far. There are still a few more months of 2016 to go, but I don’t see anything dethroning it with Yooka-Laylee and Breath of the Wild being delayed. 😛
Galaxy 2 and DKC2 are two of maybe four “2s” that I would give perfect 10s (I’ll leave you guessing on the others for now). Honestly, both are in my top 5. But I’m spoiling too much of my favorites list. So let’s leave things there…
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Congratulations! I myself just reached 50 reviews, so I can feel a true sense of accomplishment too.
I’m not surprised Wizard of Oz ended up at the bottom; it’s pretty atrocious from what I’ve seen of it. I’d say Metal Morph is easily the worst game I’ve reviewed so far; Deadly Towers was at least vaguely passable when it was released and Where’s Waldo is bad in the sense that it’s just completely boring. They’re abysmal, but not on the same level as Metal Morph. If you’re ever looking for another awful game to play through, you could give that one a try.
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Congratulations on your 50th review! Keep up the great work!
Wizard of Oz might be the worst game I’ve ever played…unless Tiger handhelds count (so many haunting memories).
I might check out some of those games sometime, though I’m not exactly jumping to do so. I’ve always wanted to try out Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties and Big Rigs as well. I don’t know why.
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Awesome work with the list and with all of the reviews you have been able to post here. Keep it up!
I am in full agreement with your choice for 1st place.
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Thank you very much! Here’s hoping it doesn’t take me too long to reach the 200 mark.
It’s always hard to argue placing anything above Galaxy 2, though I honestly flip-flopped with it and DKC2 for a long while before posting this.
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Congratulations on 150 reviews! I feel like I’m very late to your review party since I’ve only been a part of this site for a short time, but I’ll definitely do some backpedaling through your site to read some of these in the future. It’s so nice to see all your hard work organized right in front of you, I’m sure. Looking forward to more!
Is it awful that I’ve only played two games out of your top 5? Clearly I’ve been missing out!
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Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy all the reviews and such.
Don’t feel too bad about only playing a couple of the highest-ranked games here, that just means you’ll be able to experience the others for the first time. 🙂
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I’ve gotta be honest and say I liked Game & Wario, managed to have quite a lot of fun with that. Some edgy choices near the bottom with Bioshock Infinite and Limbo, some people would get angry. I wouldn’t, because I haven’t played them. And why did you play as much as 3 KlayFighters games — and the Superman game!?
But, I mean, Castlevania Judgement looks pretty good…
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Wonderful 101 and Lego City Undercover look great! And New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mario Tennis Open are both good games. They both take the formula of the former games in their series and whilst simplifying it make the gameplay tighter than ever before – and not too simple to remove the enjoyment factor.
This is Reuben, by the way.
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I’m sorry, but Rayman Legends is way too low. The art and the sound are the best in any game for me, and it’s platforming and multiplayer genius. It’s only held back by the fact it doesn’t feel quite as complete a package as Origins. How could it just be a 7.5!?
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You argue well with the opinions I disagree with, admittedly, and there are some nice choices towards the end. Well done on the milestone!
Reuben
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Love your number 1. Can’t say I agree with your assessment of Limbo but to each their own.
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