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I can't track these changes.

It almost hurts to write that it’s been 13 years since Sega released Banana Blitz back on the Wii. At the time, I know I couldn’t have been more excited that we were about to see a Monkey Ball game that leveraged the motion capabilities of Nintendo’s hit system. However, when it finally released, I wasn’t thrilled with the results. Rather than leveraging the Wii remote in its horizontal orientation, like many other motion-centric games had, it forced you to point forward and contort your arm in awkward ways to tilt the stage. I quickly shelved the game and wrote it off as a failure. I suspect I wasn’t the only one, because after all these years Sega has released an HD remaster of the game leveraging more standard console controls using the analog stick. Unfortunately, the transition has introduced level design changes that bring things to a degree of difficulty that I’ve found to be insurmountable.

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Is Ultimate perfect? Well, it's pretty damn close.

There’s always been something special about the Super Smash Bros. series for me, even starting with the very first release. I’ve always enjoyed fighting games, but admittedly, I’m not very good at them. Smash Bros. gave me the opportunity to really compete and enjoy mastery of a fighting game for once. Being skilled in the game doesn’t come down to your ability to input complex combos, but rather your ability to read and react to your opponent. It’s a satisfying mind game that continues to draw me to the series, especially as each game becomes more grandiose, featuring bigger rosters and level selections. Ultimate, as expected, is the most impressive offering yet, boasting every character to grace the series, most of the levels, as well as a set of brand new fighters that include many of the big requests fans have had for years.

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Metal Slug and Metroid had a baby.

As I’m coming to realize, I have a weakness for games classified as Metroidvanias. Between the layered progression and backtracking and the feeling of getting progressively more powerful, with some great boss fights sprinkled throughout, there’s always something to help continuously pull me through these experiences. Omega Strike, clocking in at five hours, is no exception to this rule and is further bolstered by its clear Metal Slug influence.

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Shadows Dancing.

For those of you out there sold on both Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection on the PS4 is a great way to get both, along with one fancy bonus: a PS4 port of Persona 4: Dancing All Night. The title once exclusive to Vita makes an appearance in this bundle and offers up a bit of a different approach to the Persona Dancing formula when compared to the newer titles. A full-fledged story mode is on offer rather than the simpler sidebar social interactions. For those vested in the characters and story of Persona 4, there’s a lot to like about this brand new story.

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I S.E.E.S. some dancing in your future.

One of the first things that drew me into Persona 3 when I picked it up on a whim years ago, was its music. J-Pop has always been a guilty pleasure and Shoji Meguro did it incredibly well in Persona 3. That said, not all of it was J-Pop, Persona 3 featured all sorts of incredible tracks that seemed to perfectly match or even set the mood. So you can only imagine my excitement when I realized Atlus was finally giving the Dancing rhythm game treatment to Persona 3. Like a match made in heaven, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight delivers excellent rhythm gameplay that allows you to both spend more time with the beloved cast and enjoy all of the excellent tunes.

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