The 'Shroom:Issue 232/Critic Corner
Director's Notes
Happy July!! It's my birthday month so I've been off screwing around with friends and adventures, but what else is summer for? Sporadic thunderstorms and flash flooding? Sweltering heat and broken air conditioning? Mosquitoes swarming and draining you of whatever hydration you have left? Yes! It also means that it's time for another Critic Corner, this time JAM PACKED with a bunch of writers and new reviews to enjoy, so enjoy your seasonal illusion of having time off while you're still actually working a job to pay bills by checking out how we've been spending our time!!
Thank you for voting Half-Baked Reviews as June's Critic Corner Section of the Month!!! Be sure to give your love to all of our sections here, and give a shout out to our writers whether in chat or in their forum threads dedicated to their sections. Be sure to vote vote vote!
And now for my regular announcements: We've decided to implement in Critic Corner something similar to News Flush over in Fake News, where no formal sign-up application process is required for one-time or limited sections. From now on if you just want to send in a single review for something you just read, watched played, tried, whatever, you just have to send me your review privately either to me directly in chat, or in a message to me on the forum at least one week before each 'Shroom is to be released! There's no commitment or obligation to provide a full monthly section (although you absolutely can shift it into one if you so choose), just send us your thoughts on a thing and we'll feature it here! If you have any questions or curiosities about this, please feel free to ask!
As always, if you would like to help Critic Corner, we always have openings for more writers! You are free to write for sections such as Character Review and Movie Review, or really anything you'd like to do! There's no pressure to have a huge section; they can be shorter and concise! The application process is very simple, starting with reading the Sign Up page, and sending your application to MightyMario on the forum. Any idea you have is welcome, and if you have any questions or need help signing up, please feel free to reach out to myself or other 'Shroom peeps!
Section of the Month
| CRITIC CORNER SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Section | Votes | % | Writer |
| 1st | Anton's Half-Baked Reviews | 11 | 52.38% | Hypnotoad (talk) |
| 2nd | Yoshi18 Reviews | 8 | 38.10% | Yoshi18 (talk) |
| 3rd | Completion Centre | 2 | 9.52% | Sentient freedom (talk) |
Yoshi18 Reviews
Hi everyone! Welcome back to Yoshi18 Reviews! The longest day of the year for the northern hemisphere (June 21) has come and gone (but sadly, it went). So the days will start to get ever so slightly shorter (back to dark days, I suppose) but once we get to August it will go faster than lightning. So yeah, this will be the last edition you guys see me off me when the sun is still up for more than 16 hours in my country (I'm gonna miss it). And that's it for the usual season report. Let's get into reviewing Super Mario Sunshine!
Super Mario Sunshine
Yes, my user page is right. I beat this game on keyboard. Quite the achievement, I know. But it wasn't that easy. The moment I started playing the game, I was already made plain obvious that this wasn't the usual Mario stuff. No seriously, this is a kids game. Why did they make it this hard? I've played the New Super Mario Bros. series of games, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Super Mario 3D Land, but never have I played such a hard game that's aimed for 6+. Already from the first episode of Bianco Hills, I already learned that this game just wasn't the usual stuff. The art style too. It's kinda…creepy. Unsettling. Uneasy. Uncomfortable. Surreal. Needless to say that it caught me off-guard my first time playing. What also caught me off-guard is THE LACK OF GOOMBA (also Koopa). Them being replaced by Strollin' Stus (which look way more surreal than and Goobles these cute Goombas). But it's not their fault, that's the case of all enemies (except for Petey Piranha). I also got really annoyed by Goobles because they would explode after a while if you didn't kill them. And that looked unsettling too so yeah I'd rather not see that. Back to how hard the game is though; it definitely took me some time to adjust to it. But I ended up seeing the charm in it. Well, except for some episodes. Like "The Watermelon Festival" (I'm sorry but what the actual fuck were the devs thinking when making this mission and making the watermelon even more fragile than soaked tape? This was literally the only mission in the game that I just COULDN'T do. I just couldn't. Luckily it had a glitch so I can clip through the glass the shine is in, so I can obtain but man, oh man, if that wasn't there, I seriously have no single idea how I would've ever done that) and "The Manta Storm (I actually managed to do this one but I died many, many, MANY times! But the insane joy I felt when I finally beat it, made it worth it). But except for those, the game's difficulty is fine if you're into platforms. Though you'll definitely still be struggling, it's acceptable. I mean at least you have a challenge now, right? Most platformers are too easy to beat anyway. Dying all the time is for sure annoying, but that at least makes things more interesting than ending the game with (9)99 lives because you go through a whole process of learning from your mistakes. Which is objectively better than getting through everything very easily. This game is definitely mixed, though I'm kinda biased with it, as I've gotten used to the difficulty. So I think it's pretty good. It's definitely not for everyone though.
That's it again for this edition. I hope y'all enjoyed it! I actually don't know which game I'll review next so it'll be a surprise! Thank y'all for reading! Stay safe and cya all next time!
Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond Review
| Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genres | Action/Adventure |
| Platforms | Wii |
| Release date |  November 12, 2011 February 27, 2012 March 23, 2012 March 29, 2012
|
| Rating | E (all ages) |
Growing up, I wasn't really a fan of Pokémon. I mean, I knew the franchise existed, but I've barely seen the anime and haven't played any of the games. Sometimes an episode would air on Cartoon Network, but I usually wanted to watch something different, like Spongebob SquarePants on Nickelodeon or play a Mario game on Mom's Wii (gosh, I miss being a kid). The only Pokémon I recognized was Pikachu, AKA the face of Pokémon as a whole. Despite not being interested, I didn't mind its existence. Many of my friends played the games while I didn't.
It wasn't until Super Smash Bros. for Wii U when I started to understand the world of Pokémon. After watching (and laughing hysterically from) ZackScottGames' videos of the game in 2014, I decided to get the game as a Birthday present for 2015, when I became fond of Charizard and, especially, Jigglypuff. This game helped me with getting into Pokémon because at the time I was like "hey! These creatures are pretty cool!" In 2016, I enjoyed watching Boomerang at Dad's house whenever I was there. Conveniently, one of the shows featured at the time was Pokémon, specifically the older seasons of it (including the one with the "I wanna be the very best" theme song). While I didn't really understand the story and lore, I liked watching Ash and his friends go on adventures with various Pokémon, occasionally battling against Team Rocket, stopping their plans in the process.
Fast forward to 2020 when I finally got Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where more Pokémon became known to me. Heck, I even cleared 90% of World of Light as Jigglypuff because Luigi wasn't available to rescue early on! Still, I haven't actually played a Pokémon game until November 2020, when I got Pokémon Shield as a report card gift. Despite the game's overall reception, I had a blast exploring the Galar Region with Aqua, my Sobble (and other Pokémon, obviously)! It was something nice to play while COVID-19 forced everyone to stay at home for months. In June 2022, I played through Pokémon Brilliant Diamond, which was a fine game, and I also have Scarlet and Violet, although I haven't touched those games yet. One day...
Something else happened in June 2022 - Me and my older brother received Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond. Before acquiring it, I had seen small snippets of the game on YouTube (I think from Japancommercials4U2?), mainly from the first Wish Park scene, although I didn't know what the game was about. I was curious, so I watched my brother play through the story and thought "this is so cute and awesome!" To make things even better, the game was focused on Generation V, my personal favorite of them all, even though I haven't played any of those games (nothing wrong with that)! It's amazing seeing Tepig, Oshawott and Snivy as the main characters in a charming adventure.
Playing a game for yourself is a totally different experience than watching someone else play. Surprisingly, I haven't played Poképark 2 until late June this year. Having experienced its wonders with my Tepig plushie, I've decided to write a review about it! Is it amazing, average, terrible, or something else? Read on to find out...
Plot
In the wonderful world of Poképark, Pikachu and Piplup plan to have a blast playing together in the Cove Area, until they come across Wish Park, a mysterious realm where Pokémon eat cake, dance, and just have fun forever and ever. After Piplup gets captured by one of the Wish Park Staff Pokémon, Pikachu must join forces with Oshawott, who's determined to solve the case of missing Pokémon, Snivy, a Princess from the Arbor Area who's not at all regal and wishes to have fun, and Tepig, who's timid but wishes to show how strong he is in the Crag Area's Battle Tournament. These four friends must also travel throughout Poképark and make lots of new Pokémon friends if they wish to save the world and everybody involved, especially Piplup!
Gameplay
Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond has players explore the different areas of Poképark, each with their own Pokémon and secrets to discover. While they are small in size, I still had fun trying to uncover everything they had to offer. I love the idea of areas being split up into (usually) 2 locations, as it helps me to not become overwhelmed (think Super Mario Odyssey, those worlds are HUGE) and motivates me to find everything I can. As for the areas themselves, I find most of them to be varied and completely different from each other. We've got:
- The Cove Area, a large beach with a nearby town watched over by Samurott.
- The Arbor Area, a peaceful forest place watched over by Queen Serperior.
- The Crag Area, a rocky/snowy location with the Battle Tournament, where Pokémon can battle for glory! Emboar is in charge here.
- The Tech Area, featuring a train depot and large warehouse. The brilliant scientist Reuniclus resides here.
- The Arcane Area, an optional location reserved for the post-game. It's the shortest area of all, and is similar to the Arbor Area.
- And finally, Wish Park, an otherworldly realm featuring four different zones (Cake, Dance, Power, and Flight) and the Wish Palace. Pokémon who find themselves here are unable to escape 'cause they're having so much fun! Oh, and they're hypnotized...
Have you ever wanted to take pictures during your journey? Never fear! Poképark 2 has a camera feature where you can press 
to take a picture of whatever's currently on the screen. Furthermore, you can enter a first-person view to look around and snap some great photos! Unfortunately you can only hold around 72 pictures... but that's still enough for the adventure! To be honest, I didn't really take pictures because I wanted to; I mostly did so because I had to for quests. You'll see what I mean down below, but it's a great feature for a cute, charming game like this.
The main goal of this game is to befriend as many Pokémon as possible. Kindness is already a virtue (and the right thing to do), but you need plenty of Pokémon to activate portals to Wish Park. The more you befriend, the easier it will be to open up Wish Portals. Each area has its own Pokémon, and you can only use them to activate a portal (for example, only Arbor Area Pokémon can help with the Arbor Area portal). So how do you become instant friends with other Pokémon? By doing what they ask, of course! Below is a list of how to befriend Pokémon:
- Battling: Defeat the opposing Pokémon in a battle to befriend it! Battles in this game are much different than those from the mainline Pokémon games. It's not turn-based, but rather real-time action where you both move around an arena and attack each other. You can also dodge, so obviously this is more exciting than your standard everyday battle! I love them and wish other games used this formula.
- Chase: Title says all - chase the Pokémon and run into them to win and make friends with 'em! I don't mind it, but catching flying Pokémon is annoying since you have to wait for them to land.
- Hide and Seek: Find the Pokémon in the time limit! They even provide a "hot and cold" system just in case you wander too far away.
- Quiz: Participate in a 3-question quiz about different subjects related to the game. Answer all three correctly and you win!
- Required items: Give Pokémon enough of the items they requested. Items can be found while exploring or by trading berries (the game's currency) with Pokémon holding items. It's one of the most tedious aspects of the game - more on that later.
- Talking: Just talk to the Pokémon! Pretty simple, but usually those that are easy to befriend are hiding in places that aren't obvious. Try to find them!
- Photos: Some Pokémon request to see a photo. Show them what they want and you'll gain a new buddy!
These are all the main methods, but there are lesser-known ones. I wish say that seeing the same tasks over and over again can get tiring, but thankfully the battles are always exciting because not every Pokémon fights the same!
Being a Wii game, how does it control? Poképark 2 is played entirely with a single Wii Remote. Most of the game has players hold it sideways (like New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Super Paper Mario), but you can point it at the screen to look around in a first-person view. The four Wish Park minigames have their own unique controls, although only one (the Flight Zone one) utilizes the sideways Wii Remote. You don't need the Nunchuk to play, but I think the controls would be smoother if it was required. I'm not sure if this game has Nunchuk support, but being playable with a single Wii Remote is a great thing on its own.
I've talked about pretty much everything else gameplay-related, but I haven't spoken about the playable Pokémon themselves! I'll talk about who they are and what attacks they have, but I want to mention first that they all have Dash Attack combos where they can dash at a foe and strike them many times.
- Pikachu, the main character and everyone's favorite electric rodent! He doesn't have any dialogue, making him one of those "silent protagonists" (he still makes sounds, but has no readable text). His speed is great and he has three attacks. One is Iron Tail, a short-range spin that knocks away small Pokémon and deals good damage. He also has the iconic Thunderbolt, a mid-range attack that can stun attackers, but it also leaves Pikachu vulnerable. Thunderbolt can also be used to activate electrical components, such as trains in the Tech Area.
- Oshawott, the first new pal in the adventure! He's dedicated to solving the mystery of the missing Pokémon and helps Pikachu on his adventure since the Cove Area. He's slower than Pikachu, but he has the handy ability to swim in the water, allowing for more exploration potential. In battle, he can use Razor Shell to create a spinning water blade around him (although he'll be vulnerable while it's spinning), and he has Water Gun, a ranged water attack.
- Snivy, the Princess and, eventually, Queen of the Arbor Area. Despite being royalty, she just wants to have fun and displays a snarky, yet carefree personality. She's the fastest character and also has the ability to jump higher to reach ledges other Pokémon can't get to. She has Leaf Tornado, where she spins at an enemy surrounded by wind and leaves, and Leaf Storm, a grass projectile that doesn't take long to charge and only gives Snivy a short period of vulnerability.
- Tepig, the final pal to join Pikachu on his adventure. He resides in the Crag Area and wishes to partake in the Battle Tournament to show how strong he is. Tepig is the slowest out of everyone, but he makes up for that shortcoming with the highest HP and damage. He has Heat Crash, a ground-pound attack that knocks away everything around him, and Flamethrower, a powerful mid-range attack that takes longer to charge compared to the others' charged attacks, but deals an incredible amount of damage. He can also break large rocks and activate switches on the ground.
It's a joy seeing them all interact with each other and the NPC Pokémon of the world. Other Pokémon call them "kids", likely because they're without evolutions (besides Pikachu), but all of them mature by the end of the game. For example, Snivy first joins the gang because she wanted to go on a fun adventure, but she realizes how serious everything is and sticks with her new friends until Poképark is saved, keeping her calmness throughout. Tepig may be my favorite Pokémon ever, but Snivy's definitely my second favorite, at least for this game.
More than half of my playtime (57%) was with Snivy, simply because of her fast speed. With her, traversing Poképark was a breeze, and catching Pokémon at Chase was easy with her. Sadly, being a grass type, she is weak against many types of Pokémon in battles, so I usually swap her out before battling, unless my opponent is a rock/ground type. You can probably tell that I enjoyed playing as Snivy the most, right? Anyways, Pikachu comes in second place (27%). He's the all-around one with something great for everything. He can be used in any situation, but he's probably the best Pokémon for battles. While he isn't as fast as Snivy, he deals more damage than her and isn't vulnerable to many Pokémon types. Iron Tail is great for knocking down Pokémon, and he carried me to victory in the Battle Tournament!
Oshawott comes at third place (10%), mainly because only he can traverse water. He's pretty quick on the water, but slow on land. His attacks also aren't the fastest, but I did use him for a few fights. Finally we have Tepig... oh how I wish I could've played as you more (only 6%). While he is the strongest in terms of HP and damage, he's also the slowest of everyone. He's great against Steel, Bug, Grass, and Ice Pokémon, so he isn't entirely helpless. Still though, it's his slowness that holds him back.
All four playable Pokémon can be powered up! In Cove Town reside the middle evolutions of each Pokémon (Raichu for Pikachu). By giving them berries (the game's currency), they'll power up the moves of their "apprentices", making them stronger. Additionally, there is an Audino and Blitzle - they increase the HP and speed of each Pokémon! Fully upgrading Snivy's speed is so worth it, and I recommend doing so ASAP! Berries are easy to come by and are found pretty much everywhere, even when befriending other Pokémon!
Each Pokémon has their strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities. You have to make the most of everyone if you want to 100% the game! They're all fantastic and lovable protagonists. They also have adorable loading screen sequences, and I think they change depending on who you play as! This is one of the few games that make loading screens fun.
Before I get into Wish Park itself, I might as well mention the game's aesthetics. Being a late Wii game, the 3D graphics are pretty nice. The worlds and Pokémon look great and although they aren't super detailed, it only adds to the charm of being a Wii game. I'm sure lots of kids played this and think of it fondly for nostalgia. I thought the music was pleasant - each location has its own theme that fits. If I had to choose some of my favorite themes, they'd have to be Cove Town, Train Depot, and the Wish Park themes. I don't recall there being any track I disliked. While this isn't part of the game, I want to highlight this commercial for providing such a catchy song about Snivy. Even the marketing was genius, though it's a shame this was only in the United Kingdom...
Alright, now for Wish Park! Throughout Poképark 2, Pikachu and his pals visit Wish Park to save the entranced Pokémon at each of the four attractions. I'll provide a summary of each attraction you can play! You can choose whatever Pokémon you want to play as, and they're all the same. So pick your favorite!
- Cake Attraction: In this game, you must point the Wii Remote at the screen to shoot cake ingredients from the Patrats' (and sometimes, Watchogs') heads. After enough time has passed, you must shoot at cake batter to shape them into cakes. Yamask can bring in golden batter that's worth lots of points! Overall, I think this minigame is OK. I like the other ones more.
- Dance Attraction: This one's my favorite! You must dance with the Lopunny in a simplified version of Just Dance, moving the Wii Remote to the groovy beat and striking poses whenever needed. It may be on the easy side, but hey - it's fun!
- Power Attraction: This is a reaction-based game where you must shake the Wii Remote when Pokémon appear in front of you. If you time it right, you'll get lots of points. However, you must beware of bombs that may appear as well! Press
to drop them, but you don't want to drop Pokémon by accident! This game is short and exciting, but I will admit that sometimes it moves too fast. By this I mean that after you strike Pokémon, there isn't enough time to perfectly strike the next Pokémon. Instead, you simply get a "good" rating and miss out on a ton of points. It took me about 10 tries to get the top leaderboard spot, but I didn't get frustrated. - Flight Attraction: In this game, your chosen Pokémon zooms through outer space collecting gems! To move around, you must tilt the Wii Remote while it's sideways (I want to compare this to the Mario Party 9 minigame Cheep Cheep Shot). There are also rings you can fly through that'll temporarily increase your speed; collecting gems while you're fast will multiply how much they're worth. After three laps, the minigame ends. It's fine.
I briefly mentioned this in my Power Attraction summary, but after beating the main story, you can play these attractions as much as you want. They also gain leaderboards, which provide berry rewards if you can earn high enough rankings. They can be tough to earn (especially the Power Attraction's) but trust me when I say the rewards are worth it. With the thousands of berries you'll receive, upgrading everyone will be a snap! Perfect for the Battle Tournament.
Guess what? They're also available in a multiplayer mode! While the main story is a single player experience, there are "Multiplayer Attractions" where friends can play together in the Wish Park minigames! I haven't explored that menu myself, but I'm pretty sure this is what happens. I don't know if there are more than these four though.
One last thing I'll bring up is the voices of the Pokémon - they're directly from the anime! I love to hear the genuine voices of Pokémon and not pixelly growls or screeches from the mainline games. So glad I can hear Tepig's amazing voice, as well as all the others!
Alas, no game is perfect. I do have a few issues with Poképark 2.
Since the game is played with a single Wii Remote, you must move around with 
. While this isn't a problem in most other Wii games, it's because those ones play in 2D. This is a 3D game, so movement isn't very precise and you'll likely bump into stuff quite often. Pikachu, Oshawott, and Tepig also have strange movement; when you start moving they walk so slow, but after a couple seconds they start sprinting. If you jump, they immediately reach high speed, so I usually find myself jumping whenever I begin moving as one of these three. Snivy starts running right off the bat, so that's another reason why she's my most played Pokémon. The camera moves on its own, and it's fine for the most part, except for when you turn around. If you press 
, the camera will turn to show what's in the direction your Pokémon is facing. Basically, movement is awkward at first, but you'll get used to it. It took me about an hour or two until I was "comfortable". Maybe if this game played with a joystick (Nunchuk maybe?), it'd be a lot smoother.
While most Pokémon quests are simple and quick, some of them are very tedious. Some, like Wailord and Munna require you to bring them many collectible objects you find in Poképark. Getting collectibles involves RNG, because if you don't get them in a location, you have to exit and come back for another shot at getting them. It's time-consuming and boring. To befriend Kirlia, you have to open up every treasure chest in Poképark. There isn't a menu that tells you where they are, so you might wander around for such a long time. Thankfully, I found all chests without much trouble. The ones I missed were in areas I never would've thought to visit, so that's on me. I feel bad for those who're searching everywhere though... There's also two instances where you have to fall asleep next to a Pokémon. To do this, you have to wait for like 5 minutes until your Pokémon falls asleep. While you wait, pray that the desired Pokémon doesn't wander too far that they don't notice you. At least they slowly move toward you once they do spot you asleep, so that's good. If you plan to befriend Wailord, wait until you gain access to the Arcane Area so you can stock up on honey jars easily - you'll thank me later! Lastly, I want to mention Abra. If you get too close to him, he'll teleport away. To befriend him, you must bring him a plush so you can talk to him. There aren't any hints about this as far as I can recall, and I do remember watching my brother struggle to befriend him... once you know, however, it's simple.
The Battle Tournament is only available after clearing the main story, which makes sense. Unfortunately, it doesn't really feel balanced. Pikachu is probably the only Pokémon that'll get you through the later battles, even if he's at the type disadvantage. Oshawott and Tepig are too slow, and Snivy will struggle to deal much damage, not to mention being weak to many types of Pokémon. Fighting three Pokémon back to back isn't an easy task when they're so powerful! At least you can bring two recruits (Pokémon you befriended that you can summon during battle to attack) to each round. I just wish the other Pokémon weren't so underpowered for this; they're great in single battles, but not here.
Each area has ? Boxes that provide a random item when broken. Despite there being multiple different possible items, most of them serve no purpose. The only ones that helped in specific situations were the Cleffa plush, colorful ball, and gem. If you don't get what you want, you'll have to pay Meowth 100 berries to get your desired item. Berries are easy to come by, but still. This one's more of a nitpick.
My last problem is the uneven framerate. For about 80% of the time, Poképark 2 is in 30fps (frames per second). The minigames however, are in 60fps. I wonder why the entire game couldn't be in 60fps? It would've made exploring and battles smoother and possibly help the controls a little. Oh well, it's only another nitpick, as the framerate is consistent at least.
Conclusion
During my 19 hour and 50 minute playthrough, I've managed to befriend all Pokémon, fully upgrade everyone and clear the Battle Tournament. I only collected 35 of the 40 Reshiram Quills, and haven't earned all in-game "achievements" (mainly due to how time consuming they are), but I'm satisfied with my progress.
Overall, I give Poképark 2: Wonders Beyond an 8.5/10. It's a cute, charming game that kids and Pokémon fans will enjoy playing, and the game is of a reasonable length that respects your time. There are some criticisms that drop the score down, but the charm definitely outweighs the negatives by a lot! It's also simple and straightforward, but it makes for a nice break between lore-heavy games with tons of depth. Now they just need to bring this game back, or - even better - provide a new Poképark game entirely! Oh, and I know there's a first Poképark, but I don't know anything about it. I have no idea if it's similar to this game or something entirely different. Huh, now I want to see what it's like...
The Emperor’s New (Rhythm Heaven) Groove
Well folks, here we are: 2026, and after over a decade of nothing, we FINALLY have a new entry of the Rhythm Heaven series! Rhythm Heaven Groove is here and I’ve been enjoying it a lot so far! I've been enjoying this sparkly new rhythm game so much, in fact, that I beat the entire solo campaign after only three days of owning the game ^^;; This has made me reflect on what this game has to offer, as well as the series as a whole, and as a result I’ve decided to write a fun little review of Groove. Fair warning that this is pretty much only covering the main solo player mode, and not really touching on any of the extras or multiplayer rhythm minigames.
Gameplay
Starting off with the gameplay, I really enjoyed how the controls built upon themselves. The earlier rhythm minigames only have you pressing the A button on the JoyCons, but the further you get, they’ll have pressing the directional buttons as well. When they do that it’s usually only one directional button along with the A button for any given rhythm minigame, but all of them except for the Up button will get used throughout the course of the game. This forces you to stay sharp with the controls for each rhythm minigame while not making any of them particularly overwhelming by having three or more buttons that you have to remember. The controls feel fairly intuitive as well, making them easy to remember. For example, in one rhythm minigame called Brolly Good Show, you’ll press the A button to open your umbrella and the Down button to close it. In another minigame called Crab Snacks, the A button only controls the crab’s right claw while the Left button controls the crab’s left claw, and you have to be able to move both claws at once to get the snacks to your stash. Little considerations to the controls like that make them SO much easier to remember, especially when you’re playing a certain rhythm minigame again after a while or for the remixes.
Additionally, EVERY rhythm minigame has a practice (except for the remixes because that’s part of the challenge), and when I say that, I’m talking about the sequels as well. This is especially notable because in every other game in the series, the sequel rhythm minigames DO NOT give you the opportunity to practice before jumping into the real deal. This actually originates from space limitations of the GBA cartridges, so during the development of Rhythm Tengoku on that system, the decision was made to save space where possible by not including practices where they thought they could get away with doing so. This meant not including practices for remixes, sequels, and a handful of the regular rhythm minigames. As more games in the series were developed, they kinda just continued not adding practices for the sequels, and yet they did so here.
However, a majority of the sequels in this entry introduce new mechanics that really do require a chance to practice them, as many of them have different timing. These added practices don’t feel wasted in this case. There are a small number of sequels that don’t have added mechanics, but the practices instead serve as review. For new players to the series, this makes the sequels feel really accessible as it doesn’t force them to remember what buttons to press or the timing on a pin like the rest of the games in the series do. For more seasoned players who feel these added practices aren’t necessary, they are able to be skipped (like all the practices are in this series). I’ve been playing Rhythm Heaven games off and on for a few years and I personally thought the added practices for the sequel rhythm minigames to be quite helpful. The series as a whole tends to bounce around a lot when it comes to concepts for different rhythm minigames, and it can be a while before we see something repeated as a sequel within a given entry. Of course, if you play the game enough the practices aren’t needed after a certain point anyways, but having them on a first runthrough is especially beneficial and just a nice touch.
Music
Going on to the music, there is quite the variety of songs and styles here! Tsunku returns as the main composer, and his influence in this game is quite evident. As someone who has listened to many of Tsunku’s works even before getting into Rhythm Heaven, I love listening to the music in this game and being able to say “Ah yes, Tsunku had a hand in this song”. A small portion of this game’s soundtrack reminds me of many of the songs that Tsunku had composed for the idol groups of Hello!Project in the late 2000’s - early 2010’s, namely S/mileage and C-ute. Lots of the songs here are quite catchy so there is bound to be something for everyone to enjoy and get stuck in their heads. In fact, I can think of only one song I didn’t particularly care for off the top of my head and it’s the song from Yum-Bot Simulator because it sounds just a biiiit too American and patriotic for my tastes.
As I was playing through the game, I was shocked to find out that the songs in the game with vocals were kept in the original Japanese as opposed to being localized like in previous games, except for one that was sung fully in English. As I later found out when starting the sequel minigames, there are a few songs in the game that are NOT sung in Japanese (there is one in French, one in Italian, and the aforementioned one in English). I suspect the localization team didn’t want to go through the hassle of translating from multiple languages so they just kept them all in the languages they were sung in. I personally think this was a wise decision, especially because most of the songs they did localize from previous games were okay at best.
Rhythm Heaven Groove contains a record-breaking number of vocal songs at a whopping TWELVE! For reference, every other game in the series before this only had four or five. They really pulled out all the stops for this one. A majority of the singers in this game were those who already had some kind of connection to Tsunku by way of his record company (TNX) or because they had sung in a previous game, but there are a couple of really surprising vocal performances here as well. Not only did they get Yui Sakurai of FRUITS ZIPPER (a fairly popular idol group in Japan right now) for a song, but they also managed to get freaking Ado to sing a song for the game!!! I have NO idea how they managed to pull that one off but I would have loved to be in the room when that was being negotiated…
Interestingly enough, there’s also a handful of guest guitar performances by Haruki Matsumoto, who makes a cameo in-game as the guitarist in A for Effort! Very cool little easter egg on the game’s part if I do say so.
Progression
Next, I’d like to talk about the progression of the campaign and how it subverts expectations. For context, the two “normal” format games in the Rhythm Heaven series (these being Rhythm Heaven on the Nintendo DS and Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii) have ten stages that each consist of four rhythm minigames and a remix. Rhythm Heaven Megamix was bizarrely formatted due to its main campaign having an overarching story, and Rhythm Tengoku was formatted slightly differently, having eight stages of five rhythm minigames and a remix.
After clearing the last remix before the sequels start appearing (Remix 6 in DS and Remix 7 in Fever), you will receive a congratulatory message and the credits will roll for the first time. This is also the case here in Groove, with the credits appearing after Remix 6 and Stage 7 beginning the sequels. This is where the game begins to diverge from expectations. In the entire series, once the sequels begin appearing in sets, the remixes of those sets could contain rhythm minigames from ANY set, not just limiting itself to the four rhythm minigames that were in that given set. However, that’s somehow not the case for Remix 7 of Groove, with that remix only switching between the four rhythm minigames in the set despite them all being sequels.
Once I got to Remix 8 and saw that the remix was made up of all the rhythm minigames I had seen to that point, I almost thought we were getting back to the norm, and that I would have just two remixes to go and a fabulous final remix at the end of that last stretch… oh how wrong I was. The tip off was that there was another congratulatory message after clearing Remix 8 - something that has only happened in Rhythm Tengoku because there were only eight stages in that game to begin with - and then I see I have unlocked a little something called “The Flipside”. You click that, and see an almost identical layout to what you’ve seen up until this point, and that is when I realized this game was FAR from over. This was a very pleasant surprise, especially considering how long some people have waited for this game.
When I first started making my way through the rhythm minigames in Groove, I was a bit disappointed in the fact that they changed the wording of the result text. For those unaware what this means, this is the bit of text that tells you how well you did in the rhythm minigame - either “Try Again”, “OK” (or “Just OK”), or “Superb”. These were changed to “Try Again”, “Good” (or “Really Good”), and “Amazing”, respectively. At first I just chalked it up to a matter of differing translations. You can imagine my shock and excitement when I completed the first rhythm minigame in the Flipside and saw that they brought back the original rating texts! This was an INTENTIONAL move made to surprise the long-time Rhythm Heaven fan, and boy howdy did they get me good. This is such a nice detail that, to me, tells all players “welcome to the Flipside, things will feel a little different now!” Another difference about the Flipside that I appreciated was that the Cafe, which has appeared in every game in the series in some capacity, became the Lounge. The Cafe and Lounge don’t play a major role in normal gameplay (unless you happen to fail a rhythm minigame three times in a row) but they are nice to have in the game regardless.
For most of the Flipside, the game continues to progress as expected, barring an additional congratulatory message and the introduction of the cast of characters after Remix 14. Then you get to Stage 16. This stage is composed ENTIRELY of remixes, with Remix 20 being the expected final remix of every rhythm minigame to cap things off. Something like that has never been done before in the history of the series, so being able to end the solo campaign with a marathon run of remixes was definitely a shock, but super fun!
Final Remarks
To tell you the truth, I thought there would never be another Rhythm Heaven game after Rhythm Heaven Megamix, for a number of reasons. First, Tsunku - the longtime composer and producer of the series - had his vocal chords removed in 2014 due to laryngeal cancer. While that wouldn’t have necessarily stopped him from composing, it did ultimately change the way he communicated and worked. Second, TNX - the record company that Tsunku founded in 2006 - had slowly been releasing their artists from their contracts by the mid-2010’s. TNX was credited as codeveloper in every Rhythm Heaven game since Rhythm Heaven for the Nintendo DS. Additionally, a few of the artists signed to the label in the early 2010’s provided vocals for some songs in Rhythm Heaven Fever. By the end of 2016, the only artist signed to the label was Tsunku himself. I was not aware of this information until very recently, but it seems like the company is seeing a bit of a revival that started around 2019 or 2020, and they currently have a decent size roster of artists signed to them. However, to those in the Western world with knowledge of TNX’s history but without knowledge of their revival, it looked like TNX was dying a very slow death.
The above points combined with the fact that Rhythm Heaven Megamix very much feels like a best-of compilation sort of finale (especially with the last three remixes of that game being what they are), and, well... things didn’t look the brightest for the future of the series. The announcement of Rhythm Heaven Groove changed EVERYTHING. Those that were fans of the series for a long time had a reason to get excited about it again, and that excitement made its way to people who had never even heard of the series who got curious and wanted to see what all the hype was about. All that to say, Groove has been - without a singular doubt - the most awaited game in the series.
I think Nintendo knew what they were doing by releasing this game in 2026. Rhythm Heaven’s first game released in 2006 and Groove truly feels like a celebration of the series as a whole. The sheer amount of callbacks, references, and reimagined versions of beloved rhythm minigames that are here is enough to make any longtime fan smile. And it does a great job of welcoming the newer players to this wacky series while still giving them a decent challenge. It feels like a stroll down memory lane and a step to new beginnings wrapped up together with a giant, beautiful bow, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Completion Centre (Part 1)
Written by: Sentient freedom (talk)
Hello again 'Shroom readers! I have a co-writer by the name of Primative and he'll be on the second half of this article once this one is done. But anyway this time I'm going to be talking about a... non-game. Yeah, this time the 100% showcase is going to be about There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension.
Personal Pathway
This is another paid game, I MEAN NON-GAME! I found on the Google Play Store, and I did see a bunch of people playing it so I thought to also play it and it is another puzzle non-game (yes this isn't a game I promise). And I found it to be pretty enjoyable with a bunch of characters and a snarky narrator. Also, I actually remember this because there was a Game Jam version released on 2015. The developer wanted to make an extended version of this "game" but unluckily the Kickstarter failed. Despite that he was still able to make this game happen, so yay!
Once again, I'm going to introduce the cast, so here they are.
- Game: Yes, that is actually the name of the narrator. He is actually the "game" itself and is doing everything in his power to stop the user (the player) from playing the "game", even going as far as to convince them to exit.
- The language voices: All of them are encountered near the end of chapter 1 and they all are in the same boat as Game, telling the user that there isn't actually a game. There's an Indian, Russian, French, and Japanese one.
- Mr. Glitch: The overarching antagonist of this non-game, and true to it, he is a floating glitch that aims to destroy the game so that he can execute his evil plan. What is his evil plan? Well, it's the plan that will let him [We're sorry, but due to a compromise in the system's code, this message cannot be displayed, we apologize for the inconvenience] the whole world, yeah pretty evil.
- Sherlock Holmes and Watson: I'm sure you know these two, the detectives from London? Who are also in this non-game? Yeah, no more elaboration is needed here.
- The Hero: Just your everyday run-of-the-mill hero going on an adventure to save a princess who's always getting into trouble, nothing new.
- The Princess: Just your everyday run-of-the-mill damsel in distress who falls in love with those who rescue her, again nothing new.
- GiGi (Global Gameplay): Game describes her as his "princess". She is a female program who used to be with him, but the two were separated by Game's creator after running out of money to keep developing the two of them. She really meant a lot to him, even going as far as to say that his life as a game program is meaningless without her, and explains his motive of trying to stop the user from playing the game.
This game is separated into 6 chapters. So I will summarise them as best as I can, but before I do so, there is an achievement you can get before even starting this non-game.
It's a trap!: Obey Game's orders and quit the game. As expected, the game will close, but you'll be given the achievement before it does so.
Chapter 1: Mise en abyme
Here, we get introduced to the title, and all that Game appears and tells us that there isn't a game. So naturally, the user goes ham and destroys everything and gains access to the Indian version of There Is No Game, which summons Mr. Glitch who causes chaos in an attempt to crash the game. Also, fun fact: "Mise en abyme" is a French phrase which means "placed into the abyss" and refers to an artistic technique where an image is placed within itself making an infinite pattern, imagine it like placing a mirror in front of another.
A bunch of achievements can also be gotten here:
- Roshambo Addict: Play against Game in roshambo until the achievement pops.
- (M) Private Detective: Access the Trash Folder. You'll need to do this anyway to progress, so this achievement and a bunch of others are unavoidable. Said achievements will have an M in brackets to show that they are progression achievements.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Learn the truth about Area 51, the death of John F, Kennedy and and Apollo 11.
- (M) Have you no shame?: Access the 18+ Folder.
- (M) Administrator: Enter Game's secret code.
- (M) There's a bug in the soup: Clear chapter 1.
Chapter 2: Behind the scenes
Here, after a various amount of bugs, both Game and the user get teleported to a distant land that is actually a game. Here they encounter both Sherlock and Watson who go to investigate what's up with Wilhelm, who actually happens to be Mr. Glitch. And it turns out that he's here to find a way out.
More achievements can be gotten here:
- This is not a Beat-em up: Use the fist icon from the game's interface to punch Wilhelm repeatedly until the achievement pops.
- Wrong Dimension: Call "You know who" on the Telettrophone. "You know who" is actually the creator himself. His phone number can be found in chapter 6 (the final one) and is 555-8121 (yes, the Telettrophone is an old-school one from the early 1900's).
- Spam: Have Sherlock answer the call on the Telettrophone until the achievement pops (he'll always assume that it is a spam call hence the achievement name).
- Blue moon: Use the mouth icon from the game's interface to paint... a section of the moon blue, talk about unlucky.
- (M) A soundly led quest: Clear chapter 2.
Chapter 3: The good, the bad and the princess
After exiting that dimension, Game and the user end up in another game called "Legend of the Secret" which is basically a knock off Zelda game. Here, Game and the user help the protagonist named Hero defeat the Dark Lord to save the Princess. Using very unconventional methods, they eventually save the princess, and then Game lore drops on how he used to have a "princess of his own" called GiGi and that they were happy together before she suddenly disappeared from his source code. Hero then suggests giving Game the contents of the chest, which ended up being Mr. Glitch. Then in an attempt to slow him and the user down, he makes some changes to the game design, which he claims that "The kids are gonna love it."
More achievements now:
- Honey, I blew up the hero: Use the hammer to shrink everything in the Hero's house except for the Hero himself.
- Life Sentence: Deliberately kill the Hero by shrinking a lily pad that he's standing on so he drowns.
- (M) Raiders of the lost game: Fill the first dungeon room with snakes.
- Random luck: Solves the floor switch puzzle in the first dungeon room by just hitting the switches in this order without using the hieroglyph hints: west, north, east south.
- (M) Princess saver: Clear chapter 3.
Chapter 4: Free2Pay
This chapter is similar to chapter 3, but it has now been turned into a Free2Play, much to the horror of Game, which means it is full of microtransactions, advertisements and limitations that can only be bypassed by paying. Everything in this chapter needs to be paid for, including pausing the game! This is an outrage regarding the current state of gaming, I know. But Hero, Game, and the user manage to power through this horrendous update and save the princess again, and this time they actually leave and it's the end, or is it....?
You know the drill by now:
- Serial Clicker: Obtain somewhere between 3000 and 4000 coins, keep in mind that the max amount of coins you can have is 1000 so you need to keep spending coins or switching rooms to get more.
- (M) To infinity and beyond!: Launch the Dark Lord's guard into the atmosphere, he won't be coming back down any time soon right?
- (M) One Punch Man: Defeat the Dark Lord in one hit. You'll automatically get this achievement as soon as the fight begins, because the guard from earlier will fall right on top of him, killing him instantly.
- Follow the guide!: You may notice an advertisement during the chapter that says that something will happen if you click on a certain bush five times, and if you do, after you are free to roam, a squirrel will come out and you'll get the achievement. This won't work in Chapter 3 by the way, only in Chapter 4.
- (M) The end of the ordeal: Clear chapter 4.
Chapter 5: Loss of Control
After Game and the User escape from the game for good, they end up in a credits sequence. Despite that, they're still in the wrong dimension, but they do arrive before Mr. Glitch does as he's thrown all over the place. He promises to both Game and the user that he'll take them back home if they save him, so they do, but of course he betrays them and forces Game to sing against his will. The user manages to save him by inserting GiGi's name into the Game Design folder which inadvertently summons her. Game and GiGi then have a moment together before being interrupted by Mr. Glitch, who then forces GiGi to sing against her will. However, the user was able to use her song to figure out a puzzle which hopefully does things right...
More achievements are here:
- (M) A friend of the animals... or not.: Douse the cat that is covering Mr. Glitch with water (you monster!).
- (M) Headshot: Shoot the skull using Charlie Chaplin and a cat laser (yes, it's as ridiculous as it sounds, I know).
- Serge Karamasov: During the section when Game is forced into beatboxing during the Buster Chaplin version of the GAME DESIGN folder, have the man jump over the first box but trip over the next one. Eventually, the game will just give you one chair to jump over which has the word "NOOB" written under it, and you'll get the achievement when you jump over it.
- Carmack junior: Enter the code during GiGi's song without making a mistake. The sequence is: Zero, Cry, End, Game, Loop and Home.
- (M) It's not over yet: Clear chapter 5.
Chapter 6: Back home
Game and the User successfully make it back, but unfortunately GiGi... couldn't. This causes Game to break down into tears, but the user manages to cheer him up by saying "Love Game". Game then tries to get the user to leave but they refuse which angers him, so he resorts to a game show he had set up called "Rogue Quiz". It's your average quiz show, but if the user answers a question incorrectly, then he will erase their safe file. It starts off normally, but when he reveals the third question, not only is it a complex one compared to the previous two, but he also gives the player five seconds to answer instead of 30. But all the answers are incorrect so he deletes your save file anyway.
Except he doesn't! It was all just a ruse for playing with his feelings. But a part of the wallpaper ends up being mouldy, which leaves room for Game's tears from earlier to flood the system, then the user finds the key to open the door. Game does everything in his power to stop them, but alas, they do, which causes the system to bug out yet again and transports them to another location. Here it seems like they got transported into a phone with a realistic looking room. After the User enables the rpG-Gps application, Game and GiGi reunite with each other once more, with GiGi telling Game that he had to separate him and GiGi due to not having enough money to continue developing the both of them. The creator then arrives and Game suggests that nobody should interfere with him. However, the user decides to mess around with the controls and eventually gives him a foul-tasting coffee that causes him to spit it onto his router which shocks him when he tries to reach for it and makes him pass out.
Game and GiGi worry for his status, but they get a call from an unknown number, and it turns out to be Mr. Glitch, who thanks Game for getting him out of the creator's router. Then the user wakes the creator up by overheating the system which triggers an alarm. Then the User calls the creator and Game tells him what's going on with Mr. Glitch and how he is trying to take over the world. GiGi then detects multiple severe disruptions throughout the country, and when Game convinces him to turn on his TV he finds that the entire country is in chaos with smart devices becoming unstable. The creator then transfers Game and the user to his computer so he can think of a solution, along with clearing out various pop-ups so the User does so, and then the creator says that to get rid of Mr. Glitch for good, he and GiGi need to be merged together so they wait. This is until the creator gets attacked by his smart vacuum (Hey! I see you looking at me like that, I know it's absurd).
Just then, Mr. Glitch arrives and tries to stop Game and GiGi from being fused, so Game buys some time by challenging Mr. Glitch to Roshambo, but he suggests Tic-Tac-Toe instead. So the two play while the user uses the icons to complete the transfer, and when it is finished, the creator subdues his crazy vacuum and prevents Mr. Glitch from escaping by turning off his router. He sarcastically announces that he's scared until he notices that the transfer is finished and all the creator has to do is type in the code. He tries to desperately prevent it from happening, but the user manages to restrain him enough so the code can be typed in, and with one final goodbye the creator presses the enter key, which erases Mr. Glitch and sends Game, GiGi and the User back home.
More achievements!:
- Skeet shoot: During the part where game asks you to leave, click "Yes". The button will actually break and glitch out rendering it unusable, do this for every remaining yes.
- Better than Mr. Radar: During the third question on the Rogue Quiz, just choose "Instant Cassettes" as the answer to get the achievement.
- (M) Outside the box: Get the key from the pause menu.
- Who you gonna call?: Dial Miss Voodoo's number on the creator's phone, it's 555-2368.
- (M) Home at last: Clear chapter 6.
Epilogue
So the three get home and then Game thanks the user for saving everyone and then just leaves. However, GiGi suggests that the user can finally play the game that they wanted to for so long, and after multiple barriers, the user can finally play the game. However, Game gives the player a second choice which is to delete his source code, which can effectively prevent any further bugs from escaping. From there, the user can choose what to do and this is where the final two achievements come in:
- I want to PLAY!!: If the user chooses to play the game, the game will start with no errors at first. But as soon as the first act is about to start, the game crashes with Mr. Glitch reappearing before the curtains close, leading to the credits and also getting the achievement.
- Future of the planet, and all that..: If the user chooses the delete Game's source code, then he will and will eventually disappear. However, it is revealed that Game didn't delete his source code at all, and just did it so he can have some alone time with GiGi, to which she understands. Just then, the Russian voice appears on a sKite Call and tells him that he is being spied on before disconnecting, and then Game realises that the user is still here and is about to swear before being cut off by the curtains closing, leading to the credits and giving the player the achievement.
Annoying Atrium
Just like Dadish 4, I really cannot think of anything that particularly annoyed me when playing this game. Hints are available for use at any time and there isn't even a penalty for using them. I guess this was just made as a logic puzzle game I guess...
Decision Dessert Place
This non-game is a puzzle and a half, it's fun, hilarious, engaging and actually kind of sad when listening to GiGi's song. It's a very, very fun non-game.
Conclusion Centre
There actually isn't a reward for 100%ing this non-game which is a shame. I do wholeheartedly believe that every game should have a meaningful reward for 100%ing it, but eh, what can you do?
Completion Centre (Part 2)
Hey 'Shroomers, I'm new to this site but I'm eager to share my perspective on completionism! I've been completing Nintendo games since playing Super Mario Advance on GBA, when I was around eight years old. Thanks to places like Super Mario Wiki that host vital completion information, it's been an awesome journey to see these games through their entirety. And no, I sadly have not fully completed Advance by getting all the point-based Mario Heads, I only found out about those a few months ago!
We're starting with a heavy one here, the big DEE-KAY-SIXTY-FOUR! Since its recent re-release on Nintendo Classics last June and general Kong Fever from Bananza, this is a good time to cover the massive monkey mania that is Donkey Kong 64! For the record, my playthrough was done on my Nintendo Switch 2, primarily in handheld mode.
Personal Pathway
On my end, I had no prior background or playthroughs with Donkey Kong 64. I watched various YouTube videos in the 2010's about how intense completing the game could be, also with general nonsense about the DK Rap. But I never had or sought the means to play it myself. In my defense, it had only been re-released once prior, which was exclusive to the Wii U. Also, I didn't grow up playing Donkey Kong games, so I was always curious as to what these funny monkeys really get up to. So it's awesome that Nintendo and Rare worked out any legal scuffles with releasing the game today! I absolutely love 3D platformers, so I was ready for anything King K. Rool or Kong Isle would hurl at me.
The well-known concern here (the "gorilla in the room", per say) is the number of collectibles, as well as the necessity to backtrack with all Kongs to properly collect everything. As someone who's finished several dozen 3D platformers, I'm rather biased to be not only be tolerant of this, but also want to immerse myself in this complexity. Yes, there are some banana bunches, singletons, and balloons that can be tough to spot. Needing to be mindful of the several Tag Barrels in each level to collect all five sets of goodies is a task. This is especially true in Fungi Forest, which is debatably the most rigorous banana hunt in the game.
To be frank, I thought it was a blast to complete this game! With the game's reputation of being dense, I needed to adjust my mindset to effectively focus on 'naner gathering. Once I got accustomed to the controls, how levels were laid out, how each of the Kongs control, I was hooked! (or hanged? like from a tree? nvm.) By the time I was deep into Angry Aztec, I was able to experience a sort of flow state while playing. The act of memorizing the level layout to efficiently path each Kong was actually sublime. I felt in-tune with the game's challenge, along with being able to see more monkey hijinks, charming graphics, and catchy soundtrack.
Speaking of hijinks, each Kong controls very well here. Donkey is his old lumbering, bongo-banging self, with some iconic voice lines to boot. Diddy has a killer guitar solo and a fantastic jetpack ability, which if anything could have been utilized more. Lanky is honestly kind of creepy, but he certainly has some good moves and offers quite a unique look for a Kong. Tiny (who yes, should have been Dixie) is a fun squirt with the very useful abilities to glide and shrink, though her voice line when gliding can get a tad annoying. Chunky is a doofus with the expected ability to get big, but also has the strange move to turn invisible and see other invisible things (has he seen death?) Rambi and Engarde show up once, but aren't utilized much in the game. And there are several minigames, which can be pretty fun, but a few of them can get a bit annoying.
The graphics are awesome for the N64, even with some of the slowdown from all the memory-monkeying needed to originally run the game. Each character's model is very well detailed and animated. The levels each have a great theme to them and are enjoyable to hobble through. The music is classic Kirkhope, but he may have plagiarized himself a bit, especially when comparing the soundtrack to Banjo-Kazooie's. There are several instruments and small riffs that are reused between the two games, so accusing the game for lacking some originality is valid. This doesn't really matter, since the music is great! The DK Rap remains legendary, as comedic rapping is a bold genre on its own, but here it just works beautifully.
DK64's story features several goofy cutscenes with the big Kremling himself, K. Rool. He even has a few voice lines in the intro sequence, which is a nice surprise. We see his already-compromised sanity be worn down by the Kongs and his own underlings over time, which acts as a nice bridge between levels. The final bout with the King is rather difficult and goes on for quite a while. But the fight results in one of the most bombastic twists to seal his downfall. I won't spoil it here, but I'll say it was hilarious and not appropriate! Also, we see that Cranky becomes a mad scientist, Candy gets musical, and Funky goes full anarcho-capitalist, which is fun.
Two bonuses here are the Japanese arcade edition of Donkey Kong (1981), as well as Rare's Jetpac from the Z(ed)X Spectrum. The arcade Donkey Kong has had its own set of legal issues and lack of re-releases, making this emulation of it here feel rather special. Jetpac is a pretty neat game, running at a high framerate and offering more classic arcade challenge. Being able to unlock and play both of these games separately is a treat. I found myself coming back to play both of them, even after finishing the 30+ hour, 2000+ collectible gauntlet that was the base game. Finally, there is the multiplayer mode, but I haven't tried it at the time of this writing (hit me up for some Kong Kraziness!)
Annoying Atrium
It would be easy to criticize the game for having too many collectibles. The game could have included some ability to detect collectibles, a "Banana-Finder" of some sort. But honestly, I had a lot of fun with collecting everything 😎
I'll just reiterate my minor complaints that the music can blend in with other Rare games, the sound design can get slightly annoying, a couple minigames are lame, and the final boss fight does drag a little. The camera can be a bit wonky, as was common for the era. Also, the piercings on Troff and Scoff are kind of weird. The payoff is still worth it!
Decision Dessert Place
The player will need to acquire over half of the major collectibles to reach the final boss, including some tricky items like the company coins. While it's not required to collect every single item to 100% the game, like all Banana Coins and out-of-bounds items, it is recommended that the player tries doing so.
If the player gets too tired to hunt for the last couple bananas, they can rush to reach the finale and enjoy a strong ending to a meaty game. If the player can find at least some Banana Fairies, several fun bonuses get unlocked in the main menu. The 100% completion bonus is fittingly silly, but it was fun. The real completion reward is knowing that the game has been conquered (via the player's own Kong quest, no less!)
Conclusion Centre
Donkey Kong 64 can certainly be difficult for someone not acquainted with 3D platformers. I would still recommend that fans of action games give it a go, regardless of their past experience. There was no tangible nostalgia for this specific game, so hopefully that helps gives new players some confidence to tackle it themselves. Getting into the rhythm of its wackiness can be pretty satisfying. Go kick some Kremlings!
Book Review
| Yesteryear | |
|---|---|
| |
| Author | Caro Claire Burke |
| Release date | 2026 |
| Genre | fiction, thriller, satire |
| Pages | 400 |
| Available From | |
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Book Review! This month, we will be talking about Caro Claire Burke's Yesteryear!
If you are active in the book community, or if you like to browse Barnes and Noble when you go to the mall, you have likely seen Yesteryear at some point this year. It's one of the biggest new releases of the first half of the year, and the buzz around it hasn't died down yet. Yesteryear was one of the featured titles of April's Book of the Month selection, but at the time, it didn't sound like something I would be interested in owning, so I didn't choose it. However, FOMO is a powerful drug, and when it started blowing up on all the booksellers' lists, I dutifully put a hold on it at the library (I was 22nd in line within my local library system. That line now stretches over 250 people long.) Burke is a popular podcaster, and if you've read a book by a popular media figure, you know that the fans will move to support someone they enjoy listening to. I'm guilty of this, no doubt (Iron Widow, anyone?), but Yesteryear and Caro Claire Burke were totally foreign to me before the book came out. So what's the book about?
Yesteryear stars Natalie Heller Mills, who is a tradwife influencer. She lives on a farm with her beautiful kids and her husband and makes all of the content you would expect- day in the life of videos, sourdough tutorials, farm tours, the works. Her life is perfect- at least that's how it looks to her followers. When Natalie's perfectly planned life starts to come crashing down, she suddenly finds herself transported into the past to 1855, where she must survive without the modern day comforts that she has taken for granted with unfamiliar children and a cold, hardened version of her rancher husband. Is there a way for her to get back to the future? Or will she be stuck forever?
Yesteryear is a satire targeted around tradwives, taking inspiration from the family that runs the "Ballerina Farm" social media account. If you've ever been annoyed by the influencers who have a perfect life out on the ranch, this book was targeted at you- a 'darkly funny and biting satire' that 'takes on tradwives'. But does it work? In my opinion, it's complicated. Let's talk about Natalie first. Natalie is the load-bearing pillar that the book is built on, and she is an ugly person straight to her core. She is controlling, judgmental, catty, and all-around just a nasty human being. I could see the satire working if there was anything redeeming about her at all, but there just isn't anything to like about her. She knows how to put on a face to everyone around her, and she tries to mold everyone around her to fit into her perfect life. She is obsessed with comparing herself to other women, especially her college roommate, who she stalks on social media. She is convinced that all the "Bad Women" out there who leave nasty comments on her videos are just jealous of her perfect life, and she's happy that they are obsessed with her- THEY need HER. Burke takes Natalie's awful personality to the extreme, and she's just so terrible to read about that it's not even fun when she struggles in the book. One of the early reviews of this book that I saw said, "I cheered when terrible things happened to Natalie" but reading the book, it's exhausting to get through her thoughts. I remember rolling my eyes when we mentioned the roommate yet again. I think Natalie would work better if there was SOMETHING we could latch on to. For example, the woman who is the tradwife in the Ballerina Farm empire used to be a ballet dancer at Julliard before she was groomed into her current lifestyle. Does she regret the path that her life has taken? Does she wish she could go back and do everything over again? Yesteryear definitely takes shots at tradwives but that's all it does. I didn't walk away with an enlightened perspective, I just walked away glad to be done with Natalie.
I want to mention the structure of the book as well, as I think the marketing for this book is a bit deceptive. Yesteryear is split into parts. Part 1 ends when Natalie wakes up in the past, and part 2 makes up the majority of the book, alternating between the story of Natalie being stuck in 1855 and the story of how Natalie got to where she is in the 'present day' (before she wakes up in 1855). Reading the summary and sales blurbs for this book, you would think the 1855 parts would outnumber the present day parts, but it's the other way around. Chapters of Natalie stuck in the past seem much shorter than chapters where you have to slog through Natalie being nasty to the people around her and clawing her way up to the perfect life she envisions for herself. If you went into this book thinking you'd get a harrowing tale of survival on the frontier, you'll be disappointed by the constant back and forth. I didn't want the 1855 chapters to end but there are a few that are only a couple of pages long and then you're back to modern times. I won't spoil the twist for you here, but it's not particularly fulfilling. Natalie gets her just desserts at the end but it feels hollow because it doesn't affect her at all. She doesn't feel as though she's done anything wrong. Is this the 'darkly funny' part of the satire? That Natalie gets the last laugh because you, the reader, are left dissatisfied with the ending?
Would I recommend Yesteryear to you? No, because I think there are better things out there that you could spend your time reading. If you enjoy watching bad things happen to bad people you might be able to find something in this book but boy, you will have to fight Natalie for any crumb of enjoyment you might get out of this book. If, like me, you want to read this book because it's been everywhere and you're curious about it, consider this review an "I read it so you don't have to" guide. If you want to know the twist without having to read it yourself, send me a message on the forum and I'll summarize it for you to spare you from Natalie.
That's enough for this month, readers! Tune in next time, where we will hopefully have something better to yap about!
Written by: Hypnotoad (talk)
Art by: Woglril
S'mores Summer Special - Part 1
Summer is here and in full swing, and there’s not much more I like during this time than s’mores by a campfire. Good friends, good times, good adventures, topped off with a messy, fun, simple indulgent treat that provides a setting for casual conversation, drinks, screwing around, playing with fire, dropping a marshmallow in and having a laugh, taking a huge bite and having it go all over the place but it’s okay because you’re outside. Social connection, social ritual, a social rite offering a collaborative chance at bonding, offering simple preference options with how toasted you like the marshmallow, how many pieces of chocolate, and even veering into varieties and brands, but ultimately coming around to being a simple sandwich of graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate.
For these s’mores reviews I have opted to use a relative scale to keep everything contextualized and comparable internally, though strict numbers are always hard to justify so this will be a powerfully subjective rating of how much of a nostalgic campfire authentic s’mores emotion jolts through me, as that’s what I believe separates a true s’mores flavor and experience from just any other cookies & cream or chocolate nonsense. In order to be s’mores there needs to be a harmony of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker, enhanced further with smokiness and feelings of nostalgia that are expressed with more than words on the package. Missing any of these elements just renders something else, i.e. failure to include graham crackers in some way just makes this a crappy hot cocoa. Money can buy me a lot, but I’m here looking for experiences, and that’s what I see with s’mores.
Snack Factory S’mores Pretzel Crisps
Walk into any grocery store or standalone deli in the country and you’re likely to find Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps. A very easy snack on its own, or with carrots, with a dip, on a cheese board, alongside a sandwich, they come in a lot of different flavors from salty, to savory, to sweet to pair with all kinds of things, but also regularly churning out seasonal limited flavors. For the past few summers that has been S’mores Pretzel Crisps, cycling out Fireworks Berry Crème, Lemon Crunch, White Chocolate Peppermint, Pumpkin Spice, and hopefully some more to keep inundating us with new things
That being said, horrific fake marshmallow smell ruptures out of the bag upon popping it open, almost caustic and definitely offensive. Chalking it up to it just being what happens when any bag sealed and under pressure in hot Florida gets opened up while my face is less than an inch away, but given more benefit of the doubt that it deserves. These have “a rich dark coating and then topped with an indulgent marshmallow flavored drizzle”, along the lines of their other indulgent seasonal items, and frankly the endless iterations of chocolate- and yogurt-covered pretzels you can find littering the clearance bins of every store immediately after holidays. They swapped graham crackers out with just their standard pretzel, and I believe fails to achieve s’mores as a result. The rich dark chocolate and powerfully sweet marshmallow taste dominate, leaving no saltiness from the pretzel and just the requisite crunch that I want Pretzel Crisps for. They definitely don’t skimp on the chocolate, so much that I almost think there should be less so it reduces the total weight and allows me to have more pretzels in this paltry bag for the luxury price they charge for it, but I can’t emphasize that there’s just a really unappetizing fake marshmallow taste overwhelming this, leaning much more sweet than it really needs to, enough that I instantly craved something savory just to reset the balance. I feel they could’ve been a little more creative with this, maybe using a cinnamon sugar pretzel base to include a taste more centrally graham crackery, but I don’t know, it falls in line pretty well with hypersweet doesn’t-even-taste-like-anything-other-than-sugar drinks that are so wildly popular, and thus has fervent supporters ready to buy them all up, or at least say so online for a fee.
Malvi Vanilla Salted Caramel S’mores
Based out of Atlanta, Malvi is a Kickstarter-funded elevated artisan marshmallow maker that feels straight out of the Obama years of twee exuberance with an apparent survivability greater than that of gourmet cupcakes. They offer a few unique flavors with artfully crafted whole ingredients, as well as some cocoa and s’mores options in which I was only able to find one. Malvi Vanilla Salted Caramel S’mores are described as vanilla marshmallows with salty caramel between toasted shortbread cookies. Given that the definition of s’mores across every source states that they are made from marshmallow and chocolate between two graham crackers (with wiggle room for alterations), it’s curious that these Malvi S’mores have no visible chocolate. The ingredient list does state that there’s white chocolate, but I honestly couldn’t tell you where; there’s no thin bar of it, no spread, I’m left to assume it’s a coating on the marshmallow as their website doesn’t even explain and the package doesn’t include it in the description. $4.99 for three two-bite s’mores, found at Whole Foods on their craft chocolate display. I say two-bite because they’re large enough for that to be the optimal amount of bites, but in all practicality they’re a single bite because attempting to cleave it just results in the cookies being obliterated. The best way to actually approach eating this thing is to tilt it to the side so the cookie enters your mouth full-faced and vertical, cleaving the marshmallow in half cleanly, as doing so gets you every aspect of the flavors but blocks the cookie from having a chance to spontaneously self-annihilate. The salted caramel flavor is hardly there, or at least just isn’t very different from the vanilla and honey sweetness, and when delaminating the cookie from the marshmallow you can see a pathetic ptooey of salted caramel that explains exactly why it was hard to taste. The shortbread cookie sure is a shortbread cookie, neither here nor there, and I like those so I wasn’t mad about it, but it’s absolutely not a s’mores experience and instead more of a boring cookie sandwich.
Their website does suggest warming them in a microwave, toaster, or grill (along with just eating them right out of the bag), so why not try doing that. As per the suggestion I tried 5 seconds, and after only 2 seconds the marshmallow rapidly expanded, so if you try that please be aware! Doing this steered the experience more towards traditional campfire s’mores as the marshmallow was hot and gooey, but the shortbread cookie just wasn’t a firm enough choice, as it crumbled easily through a bit and necessitated just cramming the whole thing into my mouth which isn’t as fun when it’s molten and sticky.
Malvi does have a s’mores category on their website, with the Vanilla Salted Caramel and more recently a Spiked Espresso that appears to follow a similar structure, along with some other flavors that appear to either be discontinued or just not visible on the website. Malvi also offers a Campfire S’mores Kit that includes their Honey Vanilla and Double Chocolate Marshmallows, with some crossbranding with St. Michel Grande Galette Cookies and TCHO chocolates. I can’t imagine myself ever being in the position to buy one of these again, as they feel like such an unnecessary indulgence that made me feel like I had wasted my money, not in the sense of it being a bad product or that a s’more shouldn’t be indulgent, but one that made me feel like rich people can buy anything except taste and I could’ve put that $5 towards something better in life.
Baileys’ S’mores
Here I am, planning another hangout with friends as my social life has blossomed exponentially in the last year or so where all of my time is consumed by work, art, hanging out, or writing reviews. It is what it is, currently, and I have never been happier, but there's not too many ways to adjust to this other than accepting or eventually removing one of them from my life, but one way to avert the inevitable is to combine and connect. As I'm there hosting a friend during a game night and picking through my home bar, emerging from the frantic clanging of bottles is Baileys’ S’mores, a welcome participant in a series of drinks we were trying out.
A limited edition fall item to start, it has returned since the the summers. As a liqueur made with cream, cocoa, vegetable oil, and Irish whiskey, Baileys’ in general promises to be sweet, creamy, indulgent, dessert-like, and almost sticky with syrup, with a warm kick of whiskey, “nostalgic flavors of toasted marshmallows and sweet graham crackers with a rich chocolate finish for a truly unique, melt-in-your-mouth Baileys taste experience”, and their S’mores version hits exactly as such, for better or worse. It’s a wonderful creamy texture cut by surprisingly harsh alcohol for something that’s only 17% abv, coming off more to me like a cheap vodka rather than the nuance whiskey tends to have. The second and third sips are subsequently better, but more as you know now to expect that kind of sharpness stabbing out, and likewise with having other drinks alongside it, allowing you to start tasting more of the depth this has. It’s a recognizable s’mores flavor that’s not just chocolate, and not just marshmallow, but has a bit of buttery cookie taste that suggests towards actual s’mores and a toasted warmth that makes its way through eventually. Being Baileys’, the chocolate is definitely the most pronounced, and I feel that any adequate recipe and pairing this would join would just lean it more towards a chocolate dessert than a balanced trio. Very thick sugary syrup forms where the liquid has touched the glass and left to dry, even with just a little swirl, and when scooping some up with my finger to taste it absolutely is the s'mores flavor, which just makes me wish they sold that at a retail consumer level.
Baileys’ S’mores holds promise to be part of cocktails, coffee, or cocoas in creative ways with some more flavor structure than you might get with just a simple chocolate or creme liqueur, but I just wasn’t feeling it enough to actually do it right then and there because I just honestly didn’t like how the alcohol felt too much. Paired with a dessert, or coupled some other way, it would do very well as a fun seasonal hosting treat dolled up with whipped cream and powdered flair for a friendly $24 standard 750ml bottle, but on its own it is just not very comfy and cozy and campfire warm. Good flavor mixes that would nestle up well with a better whiskey.
Bones Coffee Company - S’morey Time Cold Brew Latte
I picked this up at World Market for $4 during one of my ‘well, I’m in this part of the city, maybe I can stock up on something neat to pad a review’ trips that have become pretty fun to do as World Market has realized they can really go all out with having a gourmet kitschy food gift department. Bones Coffee Company, to me, is visibly just another bag of coffee on the local shelves no one touches at grocery stores, but at least has neat art that remains consistent in style and doesn’t use generative A.I. like more and more that I’m seeing–though they were caught in using an A.I. trend and got thoroughly ripped apart for it. One look at a wall of their stuff, or their website, and you’ll see that their package art is by far their primary selling point with the amount of media collabs that they do, but their real specialty is a desire to “inject some flavor into an otherwise boring landscape of coffee companies” by having flavors that are as creative as their packages.
Cold brew coffee, reduced fat milk, cane sugar, natural & artificial flavors, sunflower lecithin, dipotassium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, acacia gum, gellan gum, all things I expect and anticipate in a ready-to-drink coffee for the convenience of not having to brew it myself. 255mg caffeine, which is a considerable chunk of the 400mg recommended max daily intake, though not really that far off or above other RTD coffees. In small text on the back in a jumble of required labels and disclaimers is a recommendation to ‘shake gently and serve chilled over ice’; decanting ready-to-drink beverages has always felt a little weird to me, and more for the effect of visual social media, but I’m not so viscerally opposed to it and understand that iced coffee is very much a thing that exists and something I enjoy. Their website promises “the rich flavors of chocolate, toasted marshmallows, and a hint of sweet graham crackers” as a very presumptuous “everything you love about s’mores” despite what I love about s’mores being the crunch, warmth, and time spent with friends that a RTD coffee simply can’t provide, so hopefully those flavors come through enough.
The smell is incredibly s’morey, particularly with an uncannily accurate campfire toasted marshmallow right up front. Unfortunately the s’mores flavor hardly exists, fading away into just artificial sweetness and no lean stronger than a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino, giving only a creamy milked up medium roast with the slight nutty presence of chocolate. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t live up to what it promises and what it could be, and I’m a little disappointed to not be able to tell how they could incorporate graham cracker taste beyond maybe some sweetness and maybe honey. It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting it to be, which is evident in not just the taste but in the texture and aftertaste not being sickly and sticky, leaning more towards milky; this laudatory statement is not meant to conceal, though, that this is still 28g of sugar and 33% of the daily recommended intake. Perhaps brewing their whole bean version of this myself would be a more rounded experience as it would be hot and generate room-filling smells that seem to be the extent of the sensory experience.
Smorey Time is included in the Favorite Flavors bundle, indicating that this is among their best flavors, which has me skeptical to try anything else of theirs as it has telltale signs of git shop nothingness akin to Maeve chocolate; unsurprising that both are featured at World Market.
La Colombe S’mores Draft Latte
La Colombe Coffee Workshop is a very omnipresent brand of cafés, roasted coffee, and ready-to-drink coffees that has achieved a near-billion dollar acquisition from Chobani among other expansive achievements. Among these is credit for inventing draft latte in 2016–latte on tap at their cafés, as well as canned for retail sale as of 2024 using a pressurized valve in the can that releases nitrous oxide that releases cool bubbles with the intent of giving a smooth and silky fresh texture that I first personally explored about a year ago but has existed with beer taps and cans for quite a while. La Colombe has a particular level of ubiquity that causes it to escape my vision most of the time as I hunt around for new shinies, but lucky enough for them they had a seasonal flavor in line with what I was hunting to review.
Their S’mores Draft Latte is a limited edition summer special, though I’ve seen this around during fall and winter while maybe petering out by spring only to return again by the next summer. Whole milk, coffee, cane sugar, less than 1% of: dutch cocoa, acacia gum, gellan gum, lactase, natural flavors, nitrous oxide, trisodium phosphate, and disodium phosphate. Lactose-free, which helps those with dairy issues to enjoy something that isn’t oat milk yet again. Special instructions to not shake the can, as it houses a nitro widget that sprays out liquefied nitrogen as you open it to generate tiny bubbles and foam. I appreciate the nitro foam as it gives a nice and fresh-feeling texture to the coffee, but more importantly it gives an odd airy softness that is reminiscent of melty marshmallows. The chocolate flavor is wonderfully subdued, blended well, and the aftertaste of graham cracker is noticeable through almost a little butteriness, almost brown sugar fullness that is likely buried within the ‘natural flavors’. Notably, and likely as designed with a recent reformulation, the espresso/coffee taste is still very present, rather than being fully hidden behind a sharply sweet dessert taste. While I feel I would more personally enjoy something more milkshake-like and basically a flavored milk, I accept and commend this for balancing a simple-but-difficult flavor without losing itself.
As I’ve been going through this I noticed many customer reviews bemoaning a change in the recipe for their canned lattes that occurred in March 2026, so much that their current page for draft lattes has an expansive FAQ and set of infographics explaining the new changes, including why they’re less sweet, removed fiber, use lactose-free milk. They even explain why the can designs changed, stating the vanilla flavor is now blue instead of beige as it’s a color often associated with dairy and creaminess. I suppose I’ll be on the lookout for S’mores Draft Lattes produced after this change to see if they bothered reformulating those, as the intention of this change was an ‘appeal to everyday consumers’ who might not want overly indulgent sweet coffees and to instead focus more on coffeehouse-style espresso taste, and s’mores might just default as indulgent.
Fancypants S’mores Cookies
I’ll admit, the amount of research I put into these before buying them was searching for ‘smores’ on the Sprouts mobile app while I was walking around and saw these pop up and then grabbed them, but Fancypants has apparently been around since 2004 making cookies with ‘real’ ingredients. Fancypants started out in a home kitchen in Boston, rapidly moving up in the world with a large order for the Democratic National Convention in 2005, to Whole Foods in 2008, and a continued place in more ubiquitous stores like Target and Meijer as more years have gone on. Proudly Woman-Owned, Farm-Powered, Upcycled Certified, a respectable host of sustainability initiatives and partnerships and an emphasis on using ‘pantry ingredients’. They claim no artificial ingredients or ‘junk’ in a way that narrowly averts ‘clean food’ tropes aside from likely maximizing SEO for our current societal food interests, of which I whole-heartedly agree with as a little reading of their ingredients shows you that a bunch of ooky-spooky science words that look like scaaaaaary chemicals are actually just simple things that are maybe just fortified, and can maybe do a little subtle work at demystifying and mitigating fear mongering tactics and delusions.
And I’ll admit further, I was not expecting these to be good. A lot of cookies and snacks with all of these virtue qualifiers end up neglecting to make something that actually tastes good in the end, prioritizing a particular ingredient usage or avoidance, but these hit a sweet spot that all others seeking to utilize ‘real ingredients’ need to see as a standard. Butter, graham (wheat) flour, unbleached flour, brown sugar, cane sugar, semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, eggs, oatmilk flour, salt, natural marshmallow and vanilla flavoring, baking soda, and cinnamon, so neglecting to add actual marshmallows but still truly keeping the ingredients mostly accessible. I really appreciate them being crispy cookies as that hits home a graham cracker feel in a very satisfying way. The level of crispiness these have is very well-tested, a correct level of thickness and crunch that leaves these not rock hard and brittle, while still giving a spine-tingling snap, and I feel eschewing the physical marshmallows was a correct choice as it could throw in an unwelcome contrast that is better served with ample chocolate chips. A lovely level of sweetness, not too much and still with a bit of nuttiness, earthiness, warmth that comes from the wheat flour, butter, and brown sugar. A welcome addition of cinnamon as a delicate final touch that gives it a more defined graham cracker profile–It’s not overdone at all, Tami, it was a perfect amount to evoke cheap store-bought graham crackers. Most of the reviews I’m finding of these do like these, but complain that the cinnamon is too much, that it’s all they taste, and I’m absolutely not getting that and all I’m deriving from this is that no one but me deserves to enjoy these for what they are, no one else remembers s’mores by a campfire with dollar store graham crackers and cheap Hershey’s bars and stale marshmallows, they only remember fake marshmallow flavors from everything else.
I will absolutely buy these again and will now actively seek out if the other flavors are just as good. These are as close to perfect cookies as I’ve ever had.
| The 'Shroom: Issue 232 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • Poochy's Picks • Credits |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
