From the Vault columnist. Grew up feeding quarters to the Ms. Pac-Man machine at his uncle's pizza place; still owns his childhood SNES and every Nintendo Power he ever begged his mother for. Writes the retrospectives and the hidden-gem hunts.
Sega and Nintendo built the futuristic racer by which all others are measured: GX is blistering, beautiful and gloriously unforgiving — and it has never really been followed up.
Miyamoto’s gardening became a strategy fable about time, teamwork and loss: the original Pikmin, Olimar’s thirty days, and a hundred tiny soldiers you’ll never forget.
F.L.U.D.D., one sweltering island and the best movement in the series: Sunshine is the most flawed great Mario game, and still an essential GameCube holiday.
Twenty-five fighters, a thirteen-month crunch, and a competitive scene still running two decades later: why Melee remains the GameCube’s defining multiplayer game.
The two GameCube discs that reinvented third-person action: Leon, the village, the merchant and the laser sight, reviewed in the version every later port was measured against.
Retro Studios moved Metroid inside the visor and lost nothing: scanning, silence and Tallon IV’s ruins make the 2002 GameCube original one of the greatest adventures ever made.
Dismissed as a cartoon in 2001, vindicated forever after: the original 2002 GameCube Wind Waker — its Great Sea, its expressive Link, its perfect ending — reviewed on the hardware it was made for.
Cannon Spike, Cosmic Smash, Zero Gunner 2 and seven more: the Dreamcast’s brilliant second shelf, dug up and reappraised.
Claire, Chris and the Ashford twins: the Dreamcast-exclusive epic that advanced the series more than the numbered sequel did. Our review.
Capcom’s arena brawler where the stage drops a sphinx on you: the Dreamcast’s finest multiplayer disc, reviewed.