I’m kicking off this month by playing a lot of Nintendo games. The reason… every week of this month I will have a theme relating to the things that I fell in love with in gaming. The NES was the first system that I ever owned and it hooked me on playing video games. My dad surprised me in 1988 by bringing home a NES with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt and I cannot begin to guess how many hours I played of Mario

I was still very young at the time but the only console I had was the NES until 1993 when I got both a Sega Genesis and a Super Nintendo but in that five year span before I moved on to the 16 bit era I would get 3-4 games throughout the year; one for my birthday and a couple at Christmas. I played some of the greatest games of all-time and experiences that have stuck with me and shaped who I am as a gamer to this day. Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, Contra, and every Mario game that I could get my hands on. I loved the NES and to this day I still cannot resist a Nintendo system.

I have started my daughter on Nintendo games and many of the same that I played when I was around her age. She has my old SNES in her room right now with Super Mario Kart in the cartridge slot. That love of Nintendo is what led me to choose to play a number of games on my Wii U over the past week.

MY WEEK IN GAMING

1. Bayonetta 2

THOUGHTS: An absolute blast. Bayonetta 2 is a beautiful disaster of a video game that takes you right to the edge of being out of control but allows you to feel like you know exactly what you’re doing at all times. The combat feels great and the effects on the more powerful attacks are absolutely stunning. It brings me back to the fluidity I felt the very first time I played a Devil May Cry and even more-so with God of War.

VERDICT: I am about 8 hours in and nearing the end but I can already definitively say that I love it. There are so many reasons to own a Wii U and Bayonetta 2 has jumped near the top of that list. It is an incredible thrill ride that you have to see to believe.

2. Punch-Out

THOUGHTS: It hits every one of the best nostalgia notes. The returning fighters are iconic and instantly recognizable, even their special attacks and weaknesses are exactly the same while the new fighters feel a little too cartoony (I realize how dumb that sounds in a game with a human hippo) but even though they may not be as well designed as the original characters they still fit just fine in the mix.

I always loved this video review by Ryan...

VERDICT: You could have picked this up for half-price last week at $9.99 but even at full-price it is totally worth it.

3. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

THOUGHTS: I want to start by saying that this game is damn hard. That’s from someone who has played to completion and really enjoyed the other entries in the series, from the Wii entry back to the originals on the SNES. There is a level of tightness with all of the characters that makes this series so much fun to play. You always feel like you can do exactly what you’re thinking with your jumps. The mine cart levels are vicious and the length of the boss battles still seems a bit too long but variation in level design is incredible in certain spots.

VERDICT: It can be extremely frustrating at times but if you can get by that then you’re in for one of the tightest platformers of the last few years.

4. Mario Kart 8

THOUGHTS: One of the most recognizable and easiest to pick up and play party games of all time because most people, of all ages, have seen or played a Mario Kart game at some point and immediately know how to play. If you’re looking for a casual, couch multiplayer games to play by yourself or with friends there aren’t many better than this or any other game in the series. The blue shell is still the devil.

VERDICT: If you own a Wii U then you absolutely must own this game. It is the best Mario Kart game that I have ever played.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The second week of February will be all about a genre that I really grew to love with horror games. I didn’t really play a game that I considered scary until Resident Evil on the PS1 but I will say that one of, if not, the most atmospheric game I played before that was Metroid. I’ll get more into that next week but until then here are some of the things that I plan to play.

• Dying Light
• Resident Evil HD Remaster
• Alien: Isolation
• Silent Hill HD Collection

OPINION TIME

NINTENDO CREATORS PROGRAM:

I would be remiss to shower love on Nintendo for some of their recent and past successes without mentioning the controversy that has surrounded them for the last week. The Nintendo Creators Program was revealed a few days ago and was immediately met with a strong backlash from many YouTubers who say it is unfair and after reading the terms associated with I have to agree. You are sharing revenue with Nintendo when if you made a video that didn’t feature one of their games you would be taking for yourself. Google get their share then Nintendo will take a percentage of your ad revenue. This is a mistake by Nintendo, but for me it is less about taking money from the creators and more about not seeing the bigger picture.

This is a way to market your games for free. The people making the videos that feature Nintendo games are usually some of the more generously kind content creators that you will find on YouTube because they legitimately love the company. You can find a video that bashes Nintendo but those that heap praise on them are much more prevalent. In taking a few bucks from a couple of creators here and there Nintendo has sacrificed a ton of free marketing for their games. That’s a huge mistake and one that I hope they realize before it’s too late. When you start to turn your backs on your most loyal fans then you are in major trouble… I have faith that the big “N” will come around but until then they have started a fire with some of the largest YouTubers on the internet and their enormous fan bases, and that, is not good.

Here's my comment request for the week:

What was the first console that some of you Duders ever owned or what you system made you fall in love with gaming?

As always, thanks so much for reading and have an incredible week!!!!