-Author Commentary-

Very pleased with this one, probably my best issue in a long time. On Kirby Air Ride specifically, it always bothers me how people talk about that one like City Trial is the only mode that matters. Sure, it's really fun, but the main Air Ride mode doesn't get nearly enough love in my opinion. Air Ride is very "easily optimized" if that makes sense, there's not a lot of the chaotic player interaction that usually makes for a fun multiplayer game, but that also makes it really enjoyable from a singleplayer perspective. I didn't mention it in the review, but the game features a Checklist system of achievements, where each one is represented as a square on a grid, and clearing one shows you the clear conditions for each surrounding square. Many of these revolve around clearing a track in Time Trial mode below a certain time, and the gameplay loop of perfecting your time on one track, clearing a new achievement and seeing new ones revealed is really fun and satisfying. City Trial is probably better for multiplayer, yes, but Air Ride is still an excellent mode, and it bothers me how frequently people downplay it.

Air Ride aside, I basically said most of what I wanted to in this issue, so I don't have much more commentary to give on the rest of it. I could talk for ages about how, for example, I hate the "more cutscenes and dialogue = better story" attitude many have when it comes to storytelling in games, or how gameplay can be used to tell a story in so many other ways compared to the boring Shadow of the Colossus-esque "it's not fun and that's the point" approach everyone seems to love so much, but if I said any more than what I already have, I'd just be repeating myself. Oh, and it was fun to rant about my seething hatred for the new Star Fox, been a while since this magazine had a bit of genuine vitriol going on. Lastly, the link for the background art used in this issue's Yap Trap segment can be found here. Since it's not just key art from a specific game like usual, I figured I should provide a source. It's also just a really nice art piece.

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