Why I believe that Mario is the greatest video game character of all time

Super Mario is the greatest game character of all time. He has been saving princesses and defeating evil villains for over 35 years, and has become an iconic symbol of the video game industry. From his humble beginnings in the 1985 classic Super Mario Bros. to his latest adventure in Super Mario 3D World, Mario has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of players around the globe.

One of the reasons why Mario was a revolutionary game character is his adaptability. He can run, jump, swim, fly and even drive. Mario is undoubtedly the master of all trades, and he has mastered everything flawlessly in the game. His power-ups like the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Cape Feather give players a sense of excitement whenever they run into one in the game. Mario's unique mechanics and skills allow for a level of creativity that other game characters lack, and it's what makes him such an enduring figure in the gaming world.

Mario's personality is another reason why he is the greatest game character of all time. He's humble, heroic, and always puts others first, especially Princess Peach. He is a role model to millions of gamers around the globe, showcasing a selfless and kind-hearted personality. Mario's upbeat, cheerful disposition is an inspiration and a refreshing break from the flood of dark, brooding figures that now permeate pop culture.

Mario's influence extends far beyond gaming. From the countless spin-offs like Mario Kart and Mario Party, to the numerous appearances in movies, TV shows, and even amusement park rides, Mario has become a household name. His influence has reached into every facet of popular culture and the business world, and even those who don't play video games recognize him.

Lastly, Mario's mastery of gameplay makes him the greatest game character of all time. It is the gameplay that makes Mario a work of art. The makers of the Mario games craft an intricate world, filled with creative obstacles, enemies and power-ups to keep gamers hooked. Often, solving a game's puzzles requires strategy, patience, and quick reflexes - all things that Mario has in abundance, and yet he's accessible enough to remain easy for new gamers to grasp. The Mario games provide an unbeatable combination of skill, strategy, and entertainment for players of all ages.

In conclusion, Mario is not just a game character, he's a global icon. His adaptability, personality, influence, and gameplay make him the greatest game character of all time. His longevity and impact on the gaming industry cannot be overstated. Mario has enthralled and inspired players of all ages for over 35 years, and will undoubtedly continue to do so for generations to come.

Jump into the world of Super Mario at https://amzn.to/42X09cr

NEWS: Smalland: Survive the Wilds on PC (Steam)

With Smalland: Survive the Wilds being released on 29th March, I thought this exciting looking new game needed a shout out.

Although it is still in Early Access there is a lot of potential to this game. Check out the official blurb below and watch the trailer.

"Before the time of the giants, we lived freely under the Sun and Moon. Centuries have passed, but those stories of the surface world have been passed down through the generations. Now the giants are gone, and you, Vanguard, must venture out into the wilds once more, on an urgent mission. Be brave, and do not falter…"

Explore the vast "Land of the Small"

Traverse lake sized puddles, scale skyscraper sized trees, scramble through cavernous cracks in roads, as you experience a huge open world from a new perspective. Explore dense forests, hazardous swamps and strange ruins left over from the time before. Uncover lore and knowledge from hidden NPCs scattered throughout the world and learn to survive in this vast wilderness.

Tame and ride creatures

Uncover recipes that will let you tame and ride an array of critters. Leap huge distances on the back of a Grasshopper, zoom around on a Damselfly, scurry from place-to-place on a Spider. This world and its inhabitants are yours to conquer.

Survive together

Play alongside friends with support for up to 10 players in multiplayer. Explore together, fight together, build together and survive the wilds as a team.

Build encampments on the ground or amongst the trees

Scavenge or refine resources to build your encampment with multiple material tiers, from leaves and twigs to sturdy stone. Pick your favourite spot in the world and build, or scale vast trees and claim your own settlement at the top.

Craft powerful armour sets

Collect powerful armours that provide you with resistances and abilities and mix them up to personalise your appearance. Glide through the skies in winged armour, swing from tree to tree with the grappling hook and many more.

Survive the Wilds

Most of the creatures you encounter will see you as lower on the food chain – Ants, Cockroaches, Beetles, Wasps, and Spiders all view you as a potential meal. Weather conditions and seasons are in constant flux so if you want to survive for another day, preparation is key.

Check it out at

https://store.steampowered.com/app/768200/Smalland_Survive_the_Wilds/

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: River Tails: Stronger Together on PC (Steam)

First Impressions by Jon Donnis

I was asked to take a look at the first couple of levels of River Tails: Stronger Together on PC, which is out now in early access. For those that don't know early access is basically an unfinished game that is released onto Steam, with the hope that it can build up a community that will help the developers by giving advice, looking for bugs as well as paying towards the development of the game.

Let's take a look at the blurb.

River Tails: Stronger Together is a 3D co-op adventure platformer with a colourful cartoon aesthetic. Teammates must work together to defeat end-of-level bosses and solve puzzles across a range of natural-world environments.

Play either as Furple, the curious and excitable purple kitten, or Finn, the independent fish with a bit of an attitude problem. You'll embark upstream with these unexpected allies, towards the icy mountain where Furple's family are in mortal danger. Can you save them in time?

Immerse yourself in visually stunning natural-world environments

In River Tails, you'll embark on an epic and visually stunning journey across land and water. Explore the flora of uncharted rainforests, immerse yourself in the magical atmosphere of river caves, cross the treacherous swamp (if you can!). Only then will you get back to the icy mountain. On your way, you'll encounter a wide range of local wildlife - but be sure to work out which are your friends and which are your enemies before it's too late!

Innovative and constantly evolving gameplay

Your journey will be filled with innovative and fun river-themed challenges. The further you travel, the more mechanics and puzzles you'll face. To succeed, working with your partner is absolutely vital. You know that saying about teamwork making the dream work? It's a little cliché, but totally true when playing River Tails.

Nail-biting boss fights

They can be pretty scary, but having mastered the key co-op mechanics earlier in the game you will have all necessary skills to defeat these angry enemies. Just keep calm and work together. Bosses aren't evil, but they do have some anger issues for which they should really seek professional help. They are very protective of their turf and aren't best pleased when a lively kitten and a cool-guy fish get too close.

Play a co-op game in a challenging single-player mode!

River Tails is designed specifically for two players, but we didn't like the idea of a game that can only be played in one way. That's why we added the LoneWolf mode. We have added a special control mode that allows you to play as both characters using one controller. The coordination becomes between one part of your brain and the other!

This single-player mode is a whole new kind of challenge.

As mentioned above, this is primarily a co-op game, meant to be played using a gamepad/controller, unfortunately I do not have a spare person around to help me play games, so I played this using the Lone Wolf mode, so I controlled both characters using one gamepad. Now you might think this would be very hard to do, but luckily most of the obstacles you face in a level can be done one by one, so not necessarily needed for both character sto be moved at once, although as you play you will find yoruself getting better at controlling both characters simultaneously.

Now this game is early access, and I found quite a few bugs, but I am sure these will be ironed out over time with the various patches and updates.

Gameplay is pretty straight forward, get through the level, collect some things and get past the obstacles, all without getting the kitten wet or the fish dry. Sounds simple, but it is not, the biggest problem this game has is the camera angle, the camera is computer controlled, and although it does move around depending on the location of your characters, often you will find that the camera is your biggest enemy in the game. For example I would often jump the kitten into the water because I simply couldn't tell where I was jumping in an accurate enough way. Obviously not as much of a probelm with the fish.

As it is now the game feels very rough, the controls and camera being the things that need the most work, but there is a lot of potential here. The £16.75 price tag is very steep though, but if you want to help the developer, than that is the cost they charge for the pleasure.

The Good

Nice colourful graphics and entertaining characters that will appeal to a younger crowd.

The Bad

Iffy controls made worse by the camera angles.

Overall

A game with a lot of potential, but also a long way to go to be the finished article.

Out Now on Early Access at

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1851610/River_Tails_Stronger_Together/

REVIEW: Railway Islands on Nintendo Switch

Review by Jon Donnis

Railway Islands on Nintendo Switch is a simple Railway based puzzle game.

Each level (island) is a single screen, with hexaganol blocks, some of those blocks will have train tracks on them, your job is to move or rotate the various blocks so that a safe path between the entry tunnel and exit tunnel can be made, and also so that the train will pass by any stops needed to delivered resources.

There are 50 levels to complete, in 4 different environments. And there is also a create your own island mode too.

This is a simple but challenging little game, the first few levels are quite easy, but before you know it you are faced with some quite challenging levels, with a lot of blocks that need moving, the learning curve is quite steep, but not so hard that you will give up.

A simple but challenging little game that works well on the Nintendo Switch Lite, which is what I played it on.

The Good

Nice clear graphics that look good even on the small screen. Very nice concept that is well presented and despite being challenging at times, is fun to play.

The Bad

The controls could be better, moving the cursor (a big finger) around isn't the most intuitive, and you can tell this game was designed for PC with a mouse control in mind. With that said you will get used to it.

Overall

Simple concept, well delivered, fun to play, with the only slight frustration being the controls, but once you get used to that it is a fun little game.

I score Railway Islands on Nintendo Switch a fair 7.5/10

Railway Islands is out now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5 and Xbox One/Series X|S.

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Railway-Islands-Puzzle-2349655.html

@gamingcouchspud #RailwayIslands - #NintendoSwitch a puzzle game about designing a railway map for a large archipelago. #Gaming ♬ original sound - Jon

REVIEW: The Shore on PC (Steam) From Dragonis Games

Review by Jon Donnis

I was asked to take a look at The Shore, a One-Man-Project Horror Game Inspired by H.P Lovecraft.

Let us first take a look at the official blurb.

"THE SHORE is a game about the mystery of the unknown, set on a forbidden island filled with horrors. Based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, the story features many of his best-known creations and more. Players will see the world through the eyes of Andrew, a father in search of his lost daughter. Players will experience The Shore through immersive, atmospheric gameplay and encounter the most nightmarish Lovecraftian entities, all while solving mind-bending puzzles. Try to survive as Andrew as he endeavours to save his daughter's life and, perhaps, uncover the secrets lurking within his own sanity.

Presented with a Lovecraftian style, As players dive deeper and deeper into the mystery, they'll face overwhelming odds, Andrew's moments that will make you question his sanity, and a series of slow-burn scenes. It's only by mastering the artifacts of the old gods combat mechanic that they can stay one step ahead of the darkness that tries to swallow the world of his, but will that be enough?

With the ghost of an action/mystery/horror play style and the mind of a psychological thriller, The Shore's dramatic atmosphere, deep and multilayered story, and exceptionally tense, horrific combat sequences provide players with an overwhelming and stunning gaming experience."

Considering this is a one man project of a game, the first thing that will strike you are the graphics, which are excellent. You start off the game by finding yourself alone on an island, there is not much in the way to guide or instruct you, so you will have to figure things out for yourself. Search around, look for clues, and try not to get too scared along the way.

There are puzzles to be solved and enemies to take on, but in general this is something of a walking simulator, the story is the key here, so to be fully emersed, you really need to put headphones on, and turn out the lights.

Controls are relatively simple and straightforward. As you search around you will eventually find portals to go through which might need you to then solve a puzzle, one of the first ones i came across was a simple one, activate 4 statue things, and this allows a huge structure to grow legs and walk off. Yes it that is that kind of strange. Explore the island, look for paths which might allow you to collect something, or witness something strange that furthers the storyline. Head to the light house, more exploring, more collecting, and turn on the light at the top.

At this point you will get a good idea of the type of game this is and the experience you will have. If you emerse yourself in the game, the tension built by the sound effects and music, not knowing what is around a corner, all helps build up the experience into something quite interesting.

I don't want to talk too much about the game as it is relatively short, so I would just spoil it. So I will keep to the basics.

The Good

Wonderful graphics and sound effects, the voice over is really well acted. And you will feel yourself getting more emersed into the game and the story the more you play.

The Bad

Some of the controls are a bit clunky, it is sometimes hard to know where you can and cant go, which can be frustrating.

Overall

This is an impressive game when you consider it is a one man project, and you should keep that in mind. Although controls are a bit rough, once you get used to them you will be fine. Enjoy the story, pay attention to what is going on around you, and try not to jump.

I score The Shore a decent 7.5/10

Out Now on Steam at

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1297300/The_Shore/