To whom it may concern: I bought 15 3DS games in 2018

Actually, I bought 16 3DS games last year if you count my Japanese and North American copies of Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers separately.

Which other 3DS games did I purchase in 2018?

• 7th Dragon III Code: VFD
• The Alliance Alive
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
• Creeping Terror
• Dillon's Rolling Western
• Ever Oasis
• Jake Hunter Detective Story: Ghost of The Dusk
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Luigi's Mansion
• Monster Hunter Stories
• Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux
• Sushi Striker
• WarioWare Gold
• Witch & Hero 3

The most impressive aspect of this whole thing--or at least it's impressive to me--is only three of the 3DS titles I picked up last year were small eShop offerings. All the rest were full-fledged (and often full-priced) experiences.



Also, I finished five of the games mentioned above and put a good dent into two others by the time the year came to a close. (The Alliance Alive, Creeping Terror, Luigi's Mansion, Sushi Striker, and WarioWare Gold make up the first batch of titles, while the second consists of Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux.)

Although there's no doubt in my mind I'll buy fewer 3DS titles in 2019 than I did in 2018, I don't expect that number to drop to zero.

In fact, zero is an impossibility at this point, as a couple of weeks ago I purchased a copy of Kirby Triple Deluxe.

And not only that, but two other 3DS carts--Etrian Odyssey Nexus and Yo-kai Watch 3--are on their way to me as we speak. Two others--Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn and Persona Q2 will join them in March and June, respectively.

Plus, I'm seriously considering picking up Detective Pikachu, Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2, Persona Q, and Yo-kai Watch Blasters as well.

I don't suppose any of you are still buying and playing 3DS games these days? If you are, let me know which ones you're planning to buy or play this year in the comments section below.

Five reasons I hate myself for waiting 17 years to play through Luigi's Mansion for the first time

The Nintendo GameCube came out at a time when I basically ignored video games.

Although I remember playing a bit of Super Mario 64 with my college roommates, that was pretty much the extent of my involvement and interest in the hobby for a good number of years.

In fact, I don't remember coming back into the fold, so to speak, until sometime in 2004--after Nintendo dropped the price of the console to $99 and released a "Player's Choice" version of Animal Crossing.

Did I follow up those acquisitions by purchasing Luigi's Mansion, too? Nope. Sadly, I can't tell you why I failed to do that, though I suspect the "word on the street" that the game was criminally short had something to do with it.

Oh, well, all is forgiven since I eventually picked up a copy, right? Plus, as the headline of this post hopefully makes clear, I also own the recently released 3DS port (remake?) of the game.

Speaking of Luigi's Mansion for the 3DS, I played through it last week. Yes, all the way through it--right to the end credits. Here are my favorite aspects of that 10-plus-hour journey, which double as reasons why I hate myself for waiting so long to fully experience this game.

Sucking up ghosts with the Poltergust 3000 is surprisingly fun--I know what some of you are thinking here: how could sucking up ghosts not be fun? The thing is, I played a tiny bit of the GameCube version of Luigi's Mansion before I started through this 3DS port-make (sorry, I don't know what to call it), and that aspect of the game left me feeling conflicted. On the one hand, I found it refreshingly unique. On the other, it was more annoying--or maybe I should say less thrilling--than I assumed it would be. Well, you can toss all of that out the window. It didn't take long for the 3DS iteration to wipe those earlier experiences from my memory. For the most part, bagging baddies here is both amusing and gratifying. There are exceptions, of course--the final battle being a prime example--but thankfully they fail to spoil the fun.

Luigi's humming makes my heart melt--And not only that, but it makes traipsing through the halls and rooms of his freebie mansion more grin-inducing than it has any right to be given the game's ghoulish focus. On a related note, I'm pretty sure I followed every single stint with Luigi's Mansion by humming its theme song myself. If that's not a testament to how cute and catchy both the tune and the character's rendition of it are, I don't know what is. (By the way, a similar aspect of Luigi's Mansion that makes my heart melt and mouth break into a grin is that it dedicates a button to calling for Mario.)

The room designs are dazzling--Gaining access to a new room in Luigi's Mansion (you unlock them as you progress through the game) is an honest-to-goodness treat. Each one sports a different theme--from bathroom to ballroom to billiards room and beyond--and each one is lavishly decorated. Picking a favorite must be like picking a favorite child if you're a parent. It's impossible! They're such a delight that contemplating which ones are the best is a complete waste of time. Instead, I'd suggest you do what I did: accept that all of them are top-notch and then brace yourself to be bowled over whenever you get to venture inside one for the first time.

The game's portrait ghosts and battles are pretty awesome, too--If this component of Luigi's Mansion doesn't return for the just-announced Switch sequel (I've heard that 2013's Dark Moon eschews it), I'm going to have a hissy fit. It's right up there with the titular manor's lovingly appointed rooms in making this such an endearing and entrancing game. Why? For starters, the "portrait ghosts" in question are quite a bunch. There's the scarf-knitting granny, the lily-loving bodybuilder, and the bed-wetting girl--plus 19 others. Also, they all attack you in different ways, and they all have different weak points, too. In other words, Luigi's Mansion keeps you on your toes--and gives your eyes a pretty good workout as well.

Experiencing all of the above in full 3D is so mind-blowing I couldn't play it any other way--Before you roll your eyes at me, consider this: my 3DS' depth slider rarely leaves the "off" position. I made an exception when I booted up Luigi's Mansion for the first time, though, because I knew that was the game's raison d'être. I ended up liking it so much I spent my entire 11-hour-ish playthrough with the 3D effect turned on. What can I say? It made the mansion's numerous living spaces look even more marvelous than they did otherwise.

Have any of you played either the original version of Luigi's Mansion or the 3DS rerelease discussed here? If so, what did you think of it?

See also: 'five reasons I hate myself for waiting 29 years to finish Capcom's Sweet Home' and 'five reasons I (mostly) hate myself for waiting 26 years to play Super Mario Land 2 for the first time'

Six 'seasonally appropriate' games I'm planning to play in the lead-up to Halloween

I've already completed a pair of Halloween-ish games in recent weeks: Creeping Terror for 3DS and Undertale for Switch.

They'll soon be joined by the following sextet of spooktacular titles, all of which I hope to play between now and All Hallows' Eve.

I can't promise I'll finish all of the games discussed below, mind you. I will start them, though, and then put as much time into them as I can before the calendar flips over to November.

Avenging Spirit (GameBoy)--If you're a bit of a Japanophile like I am, you may know this game as Phantasm rather than Avenging Spirit. You also probably know it's fairly well regarded by people who've played either version. That makes a lot of sense once you're clued in to its premise. A group of mobsters kidnap your girlfriend and then kill you. Now you're a ghost. A ghost that can possess other people. Make use of that unfortunately acquired skill to track down your lover and take revenge on the thugs who took your life. It's all quite thrilling--or at least that's how I'd describe the few minutes I've put into Avenging Spirit here and there--if not entirely "seasonally appropriate."

Avenging Spirit for GameBoy

Death Mark (Switch)--I first became aware of this horror-themed visual novel when it was released (in Japan) for the Vita last summer. At the time, I didn't even know what kind of game it was--all I cared about was its stunning box art. So when the news broke a few months ago that a localized version of Death Mark would hit Western store shelves in time for Halloween, I almost fainted. Sadly, publisher Aksys Games switched out the Japanese release's cover illustration for one that's a bit more "by the numbers." Oh, well, I'm still excited to see how it compares to the other VNs I've played so far.

Dark Souls Remastered (Switch)--I thought I knew what I was getting myself into when I fired up this game's network test a couple of weekends ago. Boy, was I wrong. Not that I'm complaining; I actually enjoyed it--even if I did die innumerable times, and even if I did find it sort of suffocating. I will admit that this bite-sized portion of Dark Souls Remastered stumped me now and then, but I figured things out eventually thanks to a bit of internet sleuthing. Something else I'll admit: I'm still not sure this is my kind of game. I'm going to give it a go anyway, though, because I'd rather try it and hate it than ignore it and wonder "what if?"

Luigi's Mansion (3DS)--The original Luigi's Mansion is another one of those games that I've "always meant to play." Or maybe I should say I've always meant to play it for more than 30 minutes or so--because that's about the longest I've spent with it to date. I blame that appalling lack of attention on my nearly decade-long disinterest in playing games while tethered to a TV. This 3DS port of the game should solve at least part of that problem. Hopefully it'll solve the other part, too; in other words, hopefully I'll actually finish it this time around.

Magical Chase for PC Engine

Magical Chase (PC Engine)--What I'm about to say may shock some of you: I've never been the biggest fan of this Quest-made shoot 'em up from 1991. Admittedly, it's likely my feelings on the game have been colored by the astronomical prices that tend to be attached to copies these days. That's not all of it, though. I'm also not too keen on what I see as Magical Chase's discordant theme. I mean, your "ship" is a broom-riding witch--why do you fly it through bright and colorful environments that look nothing like the creepy locales typically associated with such beings? Still, as much as I wish it were a little more like Cotton, I can appreciate its designers' attempts at creating something different. I'll try to remember that during this latest playthrough.

Super Mario Land 2 (GameBoy)--OK, so Super Mario Land 2 isn't exactly a Halloween-esque game through and through. It does feature a "zone" that fits the season at hand, though--or so I've been told. I can't say so myself, because I'm a Super Mario Land 2 virgin. (Gasp!) Of course, this isn't the first time I've suggested I was going to start my way through this title, though it will be my last. Why? Because I've already bought it (via the 3DS eShop). Here's hoping it's only a matter of time before I reach the "Pumpkin Zone" alluded to earlier.

Are you planning--or hoping--to play any spooky or scary games in the lead-up to October 31? If so, which ones?

Dear Nintendo, please greenlight Switch sequels to these games

Now that the Switch is not only a reality but a runaway success, I can't help but daydream about all the games Nintendo could greenlight for it.

I say greenlight here rather than make, by the way, because I know Nintendo doesn't develop all of the games it publishes. The Kirby series, made by HAL Laboratory, is a good example. Game Freak's Pokémon series is another.

We already know new Kirby and Pokémon games are being prepped for Switch, of course, so no need to beg for them here. New Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Metroid, and Yoshi Switch game are in the works, too.

What more could a Nintendo fan and Switch owner want? Plenty. Personally, I'd like to see sequels to all the following games come to the hybrid console at some point in its lifetime.

Balloon Kid--Nintendo can be so weird sometimes. How else would you describe the company's decision to follow up 1985's classic Balloon Fight with 1990's great-but-should-have-been-even-greater Balloon Kid--and then never again return to the helium-supported series? Given that, I can't imagine Nintendo's prepping another Balloon Fight--or, better yet, another Balloon Kid--game for Switch, but I'd sure love it if that were the case.

Drill Dozer--Here's another surprise. I mean, I doubt this Game Freak-made platformer set the sales charts on fire in the months following its 2005 release (in Japan; it came out a year later in North America), but it's become a bit of a cult classic in the ensuing years. As such, I could see a good number of Switch owners welcoming a new Drill Dozer with open arms. The question is: does anyone want to make such a game? (Note: I'll accept a "no" answer if it's because Game Freak's busy producing another Pocket Card Jockey title.)



Endless Ocean--One of the great tragedies of the Wii era (in my personal opinion, of course) was that Endless Ocean didn't become even a tenth of the worldwide hit Wii Sports and Wii Fit became. Considering the console's casual-leaning ownership base, I really thought a game that tossed players into the ocean and then set them free to explore to their heart's content was a million-plus-seller in the making. Well, not only didn't Endless Ocean sell millions, but it sold so poorly Nintendo decided against paying developer Arika to produce a sequel for the Wii U. Here's hoping the company's bigwigs come to their senses and give the thumbs for Switch title.

F-Zero--Now that Nintendo seems interested in Metroid again, could it similarly revitalize its long-ignored F-Zero series? I have my doubts. Still, I can't help but hold out hope the Switch is home to the first F-Zero title since GP Legend and Climax hit the GameBoy Advance in 2003 and 2004.



Hotel Dusk--What's less likely than an F-Zero Switch game? A new Hotel Dusk for the hybrid system. That's mainly because CiNG--the developer behind that 2007 point-and-click adventure (read some of my thoughts on it here) and its 2010 sequel, Last Window--filed for bankruptcy seven years ago. Still, some of that company's former employees recently came together to make Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ for the 3DS. Although most who played that eShop title considered it a disappointment (myself included), I'd give its devs another shot if they could rope Rika Suzuki (Hotel Dusk's and Last Window's writer) into the project.

Ice Climber--I may very well be the only living soul who'd like to see Nintendo release an update to this masochistic Famicom and NES game. Sadly, I think an Ice Climber sequel would've fared best on the dual-screened DS (imagine it: pixel-based graphics, a jumping mechanism that doesn't make you want to yank out all your hair, and mountains that go on for days), but since that failed to happen, I'll ask for it to be made for Switch. To be honest, I'm not even sure how such a game would play out, although one thing's a must: Nana and Popo would have to be easier to control this time around.

Kid Icarus--I've wanted a "real" Kid Icarus sequel since I first played the original NES game as a kid. Uprising was nice and all (not that I've played it), but what I'm talking about here is a two-dimensional side-scroller that takes the 8-bit title's blueprint and expands upon it. Sure, a SNES sequel à la Super Metroid would've been perfect, but the same could be accomplished on the Switch, so that's what I'll wish for here. (For more on why I love Kid Icarus, read my "10 Most Influential Games" post devoted to it.)

Luigi's Mansion--Considering 2013's Dark Moon seemingly met with sales success all around the globe, I have to imagine Nintendo's already hard at work on a follow-up for Switch. If not, I hope they get on it soon, as I thoroughly enjoyed what I've played of the series' first two titles.

Mole Mania--Nintendo's failure to give this GameBoy classic a second chance is right up there with its failure to properly follow up Balloon Kid and Drill Dozer, in my humble opinion. Of course, the original release was met with disinterest around the globe, so I guess I can't criticize the hesitation too harshly. Still, Mole Mania's now widely considered an overlooked gem, so why not throw its many fans a bone by giving them a Switch sequel? Even an eShop-only effort would suffice, if you ask me.

Panel de Pon--For some dumb reason, the powers that be at Nintendo think the masses--outside of Japan, especially--would rather play Tetris Attack or Puzzle League than the syrupy sweet Panel de Pon. Is the assumption here that Westerners hate games that are slathered in pastels and star adorable fairies? If so, I respectfully disagree. I'll forgive the company its trespasses, however, if it offers up a new Panel de Pon for Switch that harkens back to the Super Famicom original.

BONUS ROUND: Tomato Adventure--Now that nearly everyone is burned out on the Mario & Luigi series, Nintendo should give developer AlphaDream a break and have it produce another Tomato Adventure. This time, though, they'd better release the game outside of Japan.

FYI: I'm quickly becoming obsessed with the GameCube

Granted, it's really damn easy to fall head over heels in love with Nintendo's fourth console thanks to the adorable form factor of its hardware. Also, the packaging of the system's Japanese games is beyond precious.

Speaking of which, the latter is what's prompted me to regain interest in the GameCube in recent weeks.

What do I mean? Well, after spending time with Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits last month,  I decided to get off my lazy butt and buy Mr. Driller: Drill Land as well.

In case you weren't aware, Drill Land's box art is pretty darn nice. Just as nice, though, is its overall package, which is a lot smaller and cuter than you might think (about the size of a Japanese GBA game box, although thinner). Plus, the little cardboard sleeve that covers and protects the plastic case beneath is a nice change of pace from the bulky DVD cases publishers have used since the PS2 hit the streets all those years ago.

Anyway, that single purchase spurred me to pick up a few more Japanese GameCube titles as well--all of which I'll of course chat about in future blog posts.

I'm also seriously considering finally picking up an "orange spice" Japanese GameCube system sometime in 2016. Not only have I wanted to own one for ages, but making it happen now (or soon) would allow me to play all of these recently acquired games in style, wouldn't you agree?

That may be just what I need to finally get behind this "failed" console. After all, I've hardly been its biggest fan over the years.

I don't know if I've ever shared this here, but I'm surprisingly inexperienced--given my overall love of Nintendo games and hardware--with the GameCube.

I waited a good couple of years before I bought one, and even then it was only because the console was $99 and because I felt a desperate need to experience the weird life sim, Animal Crossing, for myself. (The latter also was on sale at the time, thanks to it being one of the company's rare "Player's Choice" offerings.)

I purchased a few other GameCube titles afterward--The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Power Tennis and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door among them--but once I was done with them, I moved on to other systems and rarely looked back. (Animal Crossing has been the one exception, naturally.)

So, this will effectively be my "second chance" with this sixth-generation console--and believe me, I intend to make the most of it.

What do all of you think of the GameCube, by the way? Do you like the system and its catalog of games, or is it a console that's never really done much for you?

Acquisition #134: Luigi's Mansion (GameCube)

Would you believe me if I told you that, until a few days ago, I'd never before played Luigi's Mansion?

Honestly, I can't tell you why I avoided this GameCube launch title all this time. I have a feeling it had to do with its rumored lack of length. (I've heard the game can be completed in just a handful of hours.) Another possibility: I was turned off by the fact that it wasn't a proper, Mario-centric platformer.

Whatever the reason, Luigi's Mansion failed to find its way into my shiny silver GameCube until now.

As for what prompted me to change my mind about this title and add the copy seen in the photo on the right to my collection: I'm going to blame it on all of the videos of the fabulous-looking 3DS follow-up, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, that popped up after E3 2012 (many of which have been watched over and over again by yours truly).

Actually, I shouldn't say "blame," as I'm really enjoying Luigi's Mansion so far. It took me a few minutes to come to terms with its controls, but since then I've had a blast. I especially like how Luigi's vacuum affects pretty much anything in its path: Hanging clothes, chairs, tables, vases--you name it, this little sucker reels them in (or at least attempts to) like so many fish.

I also really like this game's atmosphere. It's spooky, but silly, too. And the soundtrack? Subtle, but also oh so sweet. I especially get a kick out of how Luigi hums along with the main theme.

Have any of you played through Luigi's Mansion? If so, what are your thoughts on it? And are you looking forward to the sequel, or was one spooky Super Mario Bros. spinoff enough for you?

See also: Previous 'Acquisition #123' posts