Super Mario 64 - Star Road

Theres not shortage of great Mario 64 Hacks out there, but this was one of the pioneering ones that really felt like a proper sequel to the game.

It does a good job of pushing up the difficulty curve without going too far. The world’s are beautifully designed and carry a great aesthetic that blends well with the low poly vibe of the N64.

The soundtrack is another standout. Many songs from a wide history of Mario games get re-imagined in the 64 Soundfont quite nicely.

It was my entry to romhacks so I definitely have some bias, but for any Mario 64 fan I think its well worth your time

https://romhacking.com/hack/super-mario-star-road

Also a great way! It’s nice having the save states/rewind on the Switch version

There’s really nothing like old-school Halo Multiplayer. Love the photos! Reminds me of the ones I’d see shared on Xbox Live back in the day

Incredibly well! Though I’m quite biased as they’re my favorite game series. They both represent the peak of the 90s colectathon games.

If you’re considering playing them, I’d say startwith the PC Recomp of Kazooie. Easily the best way to experience it! Updated controls and some QoL improvements reallt go a long way. It’s a decently breezy game (aside from that dang boiler room) so a playthrough shouldn’t take too long.

Tooie however is a MUCH bigger game, and my personal favorite. While Kazooie can be a mostly linear adventure, Tooie feels more like a Metroidvania with its backtracking elements. The writing is stuffed with British humor and a healthy dash of self awareness too.

Very worth it! If you’re worried about the attention span thing, most of the stories tend to be around an hour to an hour and a half. So they aren’t much longer than a standard episode of Who! Have fun :)

Decided to play through Banjo-Tooie again since its on Switch now. This time though, I’m trying a new playthrough style.

As soon as I had access to the Cheats Temple, I put the code in to double my speed as well as unlock every stage without needing the jiggies. So now I’m running around to each stage trying to unlock as many of the moves/shortcuts as I can!

It’s fun going into a stage with most of the moves I need already unlocked, makes the game flow way differently. Gives it a much bigger metroidvania feel.

Personally I use GIMP. Been my photoshop replacement for at least a good 5ish years now, and it’s come a long way! It has (imo) a pretty intuitive interface so it doesn’t take too long to acclimate.