GameBoy Advance Ambassador games: First Impressions (part 1)

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
Yikes! Ya know, many of the racing games of yesteryear just didn't age well. I believe this is one of them. I think that can be attributed partially to the D-pad based control scheme...and the 2-D graphics. Yeah, racers are probably better off in 3-D. All I know is I wouldn't pay for this game.

Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
How did I miss out on the original Yoshi's Island in my youth?! It's a flippin' sweet game! Stay tuned on this one for sure!

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
I actually have this game in GBA cartridge format! To be brief, I've never liked it...at all...in the slightest. If the original Mario Kart on Super Nintendo is anything like this one, I'll stay far away.

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong
I haven't played this one much, but what I've seen, I've liked...a lot. It's kind of a combination of platforming and puzzle-solving. I can't wait to have time to play more of this little gem!

Metroid Fusion
Another title I have an actual cartridge of! I love playing this game on my GBA SP. But the D-pad and face buttons on the Nintendo 3DS system are, to be quite frank, a pain to use. They're too stiff or something. That aside, Metroid Fusion is an excellent game.

Warioware, Inc. Mega Microgame$
Apparently this title introduced the brilliant concept of microgames. It works, and works well. Obviously there isn't going to be a lot of meat to this kind of game, but it's a much-appreciated diversion.

Six down, four to go! Look forward to part 2 in this series in a couple of days! 

The many game series I have little to no experience with: Part One

Awesome montage courtesy of my buddy Lindsay!

I was looking at my label distribution for this blog, and here are some interesting stats: "legend of zelda" has been attached to 49 posts, "gameboy" only 1, "super mario" a little better at 29, "sonic" only at 2.

This led me to the topic of today's post: that there are many great game series I have yet to play, or have played very little of. Final Fantasy is a great example. The "final fantasy" label belongs to only 2 posts, both of which are Mary's. I can't help but be bothered by the fact that Square Enix publishes most of today's Final Fantasy games on PlayStation, but that doesn't mean I should ignore the early titles on NES and SNES! Someday I'll play them for myself.

Next up we have the Dragon Quest series. I don't know much about this series, nor do I have a single post with it as a label (until now). Funnily enough, this is another big Square Enix series. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine it's somewhat like Pokemon. Other than that...I got nothin'.

Professor Layton earns a spot on this post as well. I think I know the premise behind this series. The player steps into the role of Professor Layton, solving a variety of puzzles to unlock the story...or something like that. I've never had much of a desire to step into this series, so convince me otherwise, by all means.

F-Zero is the big Nintendo one I haven't really had a lot to do with. Well, I did attempt to play F-Zero: Maximum Velocity because it was one of the ten free GameBoy Advance games for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors, but...I hated it, really. I know I didn't give it much of a chance, but there was nothing accessible about it for a newcomer like me.

Wow, I can still think of a lot more series, and this post is pretty packed already. It's settled then: this will have to be a two-parter! Look forward to part two this Wednesday!

Are there any game series on this list you think I should play ASAP? Let me know in the comments!