Power Morphicon 2022: Unleashing the Beast (+ PMCs Ranked!)

I flew into Orange County Wednesday evening (8/26) and made my way to the airbnb in Long Beach that Batz, Mag-Num, her dad and friend had been staying at. Thursday I joined Batz for a day at Disneyland officially dubbed Ranger Bar Does Disney and then Friday was all Universal Studios. Can't wait for Super Nintendo World! Saturday we all left Long Beach and Batz & I headed to Pasadena - oh how nice it was to be back after 6 years. It was just after 12:30 by the time I got in a small line for my badge and Red Ranger membership level perks, WAY quicker than in 2018, thats for sure. On the lookout for anyone I know from the fandom, I observed a staff member run up to another fuming at how Jason David Frank was taking ALL the staff. I then headed to the villains panel, which I had been looking forward to with Colby Strong & Liana Ramirez (Beast Morphers) making their first ever panel, and the only panel appearance of Adelaide Kane (RPM) who was Saturday only - always great to see. Afterwards, I explored the floor for the first time, but unsure what to do, soon hopped next door to Starbucks and chilled off to the side of the floor with my frappuccino taking in all the action. JDF had a huge crowd in line as expected (also Saturday only), plus it was nice catching a nearby glimpse of the PMC7 Guest of Honor - GokaiRed from Gokaiger who I heard was charging like $300.

I rendezvous with Batz at the hotel to check in our room and back on the floor started to meet Beast Morphers cast - Rorrie Travis (Red) and Jazz Baduwalia (Blue). It was then time for the Mighty Morphin 29 Years Later panel and in the last hour of the day, I met Davi Santos (Dino Charge) and John Tui (SPD & Mystic Force) making his first PMC. Always ready to play paparazzi, I grabbed a pic of former longtime showrunner/EP Chip Lynn chatting with part of the Dino Fury cast as I slowly worked my way out.

Past PMCs had an official Saturday night event or concert happening but nothing was scheduled this year. So with the evening wide open after 6:00, I retreated back to our room and eventually met up with Batz who was hanging out in the hotel lobby bar. Soon we headed to Ralph's to get food & drinks for the Ranger Bar Pink Dolphin Party, grabbed dinner and begun setting up the hotel room. Tyler Waldman of Rangercast came by early and teased some info about season 30. Then the party got underway after 11:00 with a few rounds of Power Ranger fans coming by including our pal Eric Francisco, one of last from the old Mutant Chat who still goes to the con. I thought it was great seeing the younger generation in awe over VHS tapes of original episodes as one of the Ranger Bar TVs had In Space from Fox Kids and then Ninja Storm from ABC Kids/ABC Family playing.

Sunday got underway with the Dino Fury panel at 11:00 which included a message from showrunner/EP Simon Bennett officially announcing season 30 as Power Rangers Cosmic Fury - a 3rd season for Dino Fury with the same cast, something that hasn't happened since Mighty Morphin. It was supposed to be a bit of a surprise at the panel but Hasbro tweeted it out the night before around when Waldman was leaving our party, instead of Sunday at 8 am which PMC staff thought was happening. Whoops! It was also a bit awkward devoting 20 minutes of the panel to Cosmic Fury when the cast couldn't talk about it and very little was even known. But now that its all been revealed, I'm excited for this seemingly 10 episode 30th anniversary celebration with old faces returning and a new big bad likely joining Lord Zedd. I don't mind the upgraded Ryusoulger suits and get some fans wanting KyuRanger suits instead.

Anyway, up next was the Beast Morphers panel and soon after I met Jackie Scislowski (Yellow) and completed the quartet with Abraham Rodriguez (Gold) making sure to tell them how nice it was to see them after 4 years. I knew going into this weekend I wasn't really gonna see anyone from the Zordon era of the show but I did swing by Selwyn Ward ("The First Black Leader of the Power Rangers!") I had never met so he could sign an unopened Blue Space Ranger. Another thing different than past years was having the current cast at booths all weekend rather than the limited signings the casts of Samurai, Megaforce and Dino Charge had. So with part of the Dino Fury cast on the floor I met Hunter Deno (Pink), went to the voice actors panel at 3:00 and finished off PMC7 meeting Tessa Rao (Green).

This year definitely had other changes and differences from past PMCs. As always, the floor was packed with cast, all the PR toys you can ever imagine, even a good amount of non-PR stuff - but still felt a bit more lowkey without any presence from Hasbro, while past cons had Bandai, and 2018 in Oakland had full suits on display & a huge helmet display. It sounds like a lot of fans really enjoyed the interactions with cast and the intimate feel this year, obviously nice after what the world has gone through. I was unsure going in how this exactly would go but didn't feel like the pandemic impacted things at all in the end. This was also the first time I skipped Friday which worked out well since the panel schedule was rather light and I was confident I'd still have plenty of time to see a lot of recent cast. I was glad I didn't get the Gold Ranger membership this time (which I had done pretty much every year before), instead going for the cheaper Red Ranger with less perks/swag, especially as my collection of PR related clothing dating back to 2010 grows. Plus the PMC7 convention coin actually has the wrong date on it, all the more reason to cutback on these perks. 2024 I imagine will be a lot like this one, going just 2 days. There's a lot of Rangers, villains and voice cast I've met now and several I don't really care to. If there's no new cast, I'd hopefully be able to fill a few holes in recent & Disney era cast I missed when they were there before and whoever makes the con for the first time.

Check out my Instagram for photos/snaps!

PMCs Least Favorite to Favorite 

⚡ 2010: Easily my least favorite. At the time it was awesome PMC was moving to Pasadena under new ownership and I was ready to improve on 2007. But the trip got off to a rocky start after a falling out with puperazzi/Spy a few months prior came to a head in an encounter on Thursday. This was the only time PMC was in the convention center "basement" with a layout having the guests boxed in, so I'm not a big fan of how some of the pics turned out with the fan and guest on either side of the table. I got tons of autographs but lost a LOT of photos after the camera crashed Saturday evening. Jason Faunt and Erin Cahill (Time Force) are the only ones I for sure got new photos with. Some of the cast I definitely could've held off on seeing until later PMCs. I also have to just shake my head with how much I pushed to be included in the group on Night Zero in the long era of Chris Funaro as head of Mutant Chat.

⚡ 2007: This was a VERY intimate experience for us all, literally being able to walk up to & meet cast, and getting autographs/pics with the entire cast of Operation Overdrive, what pretty much started it all. One of the first unexpected fanboy moments has to be meeting Paul Schrier in the hall. But I have to cringe at how way too awestruck I was at everything and not really talking to anyone besides Spy. Plus I was figuring out as I went along how quickly the camera (which was new then) used up non-rechargeable batteries and the whole insistence of sticking with the group even if it meant shleping my luggage around. 😬

⚡ 2016: The big highlight was meeting all the Megaforce Rangers, one of the best groups of the 2010s. The Dino Charge panel with the Ninja Steel cast reveal and "Sudarso Bros" moment was awesome at the time, but aside from probably Zoe Robins (White), I don't care if I ever meet anyone from that cast in what would become one of the worst seasons of PR.

⚡ 2022: I'd give this year the edge over 2016 but it's hard to top the next 3...

⚡ 2012: This weekend was mega to say the least, getting a lot of photos, having no issues with the camera or anything and the Megaforce cast reveal in the Samurai panel which was a total shocker. Aside from how Power Rangers Samurai was going on TV, I loved meeting some of the team and still fondly look back on how open they were with posing for photos without the restrictions from before.

⚡ 2018: Didn't care much for the Ninja Steel panel but of course the reveal of Beast Morphers with Rorrie, Jazz and Jackie during it was awesome. Other big highlights have to be David Fielding doing Zordon thanks to rigged mic no one knew was happening and Christopher Khaymen Lee (In Space) & posse stopping by the Pink Dolphin Party.

⚡ 2014: If I had to pick an absolute favorite this would be it. Hector David Jr (Samurai) made for one interesting night during that years Pink Dolphin Party. Great moments in meeting more of that cast and the expected Dino Charge cast reveal with Brennan Mejia who would become one of my favorite Reds of the 2010s and a pretty cool dude.

Roarin' For Dino Fury

Dino Fury has been a true new beginning for the franchise with one of the best casts in years, a rad EDM vibes morphing sequence/roll call and all around improved writing from Simon Bennett & co. As the first season went on, I couldn't help but feel in retrospect how Beast Morphers was still too Neo Saban at times, especially with Zoey and Ben & Betty's wacky slapstick. Now that's outta here.

Zayto awakening and the flashbacks to Rafkon have made for some great episodes. Beast Morphers still has the better premiere but this season stayed locked in with other outstanding episodes in Izzy & Ravi's debut as Rangers and the return of OG Lord Zedd. Izzy & Fern representing LGBTQ+ has been awesome as well, long overdue for the show. It's interesting that early on Dino Fury was initially going to be a one-and-done season but was changed to two, and so the season was padded. Despite that, there were only a couple weak episodes I didn't care for much, while Void Knight trying to get the Sporix to revive Santuara was paced fairy well I thought. 

I wasn't sold on Buzzblast and the obvious Riptide set redressing, and while it can come off as a bit chaotic with so much going on so close together, it feels very modern for the show, as well as the Ranger hotline. I was however quickly sold on Jane & J-Borg, by far the best comedic relief since Disney era. I like the new direction they went with having Mucus as an additional comedic character.

I wasn't too sure about the Nexus Prism coming back but it worked pretty well as we really dove into PR lore with the Morphin Masters being responsible for a lot of old powers. And Mick's guest appearance and using his shapeshifting was fun - at least it was him and not a real teamup. Hopefully we can otherwise stay clear of Ninja Steel. >_>

Ivan in Dino Charge still has the best Gold Ranger debut in modern times but Aiyon's debut wasn't bad either, kind of a better episode plot than Nate & Steel becoming Rangers or Levi. 

The season finale was one of the most decent in years as far as being more of a midseason finale, which past seasons hadn't really done except for the Super Megaforce cliffhanger. I look forward to where things go as we really get rolling this year with the debut of Void King & Queen, Zedd coming back and if they play into him getting his Z-Staff. Also I've enjoyed Campbell Cooley's characters dating back to Snide so I was glad to see that continue with Slyther as a General.

5/5 for "SPORIX UNLEASHED," "NEW RECRUITS," "UNEXPECTED GUEST," "OLD FOES," "ANCIENT HISTORY"

3/5 for "SUPERSTITION STRIKES," "McSCARY MANOR," "SUPER HOTSHOT," "SECRET SANTA"

4/5 for the rest

Looking Back: Power Rangers Jungle Fury

Watching Jungle Fury again, I still remembered quite a bit but would my views change after all these years? I recalled it as being a lot weaker than the other Kalish seasons but that was a much different time in the show. Looking back, I can really appreciate what Marchand & Tellegen did, and how it was missed in recent years.

The season started with another solid premiere, not the best (better than Overdrive anyway), about on par with Mystic Force. I quickly got to like Dai Shi & Camille in the awesome copy of the set from GekiRanger (which would become one of my favorite villain storyarcs ever) and thought it was cool how the Rinshi were powered up to become the weekly monster. For the most part, the villain groups were handled well I thought (Dai Shi Clan/Five Fingers of Poison/Overlords/Phantom Beasts), aside from Scorch coming back one too many times - and in some cases - how the Dai Shi/Jarrod conflict was handled. Back when the season aired, I was kind of annoyed with Jarrod acting human one week and Dai Shi in full control the next. Plus in true PR fashion, it was ridiculous how easily his spirit escaped the box to begin with.

One of the best aspects of the season has to be the Masters. I still remember how exciting it was having the Spirit Rangers and a self-contained teamup when they'd join forces with the team. Loved RJ as a mentor and becoming Wolf Ranger. I wasn't as offended now, but originally, I really didn't like Casey. A bigger offense still has to be the Strike Rider and the annoyingly drawn out sequences it had, worse than SPD at times. JF had some of my favorite zords as well with some fun Flit-narrated battles, and I always enjoyed when the theme would play in episodes - besides Dino Charge - one of the last great intro songs/instrumentals. I also realize how much I miss the wire fu action style but Dino Fury definitely has had some great fight sequences, at times the closest to the old style since Disney era.

To this day, JF had one of the best Disney finales as I liked how it focused on the core 3 defeating Dai Shi, had awesome action, the destruction of the temple - and in the process - didn't do anything outta left field like Mesomonster or ridiculous like Octomus getting stuffed on magic. GekiRanger was great to watch as well. Besides having the original Rangers, I enjoyed the suits so much that this was one of the few times (after Time Force & Wild Force) that I bought the toys - inpaticular the Spring '08 Sound Fury line, Dai Shi, Camille/Flit and Beast Master Megazord I wished had appeared in the show.

 

Beast Morphin' Out

Coming off the dino teamup, Beast Morphers had some episode plots not all that great (Nate & his parents, Roxy & Ravi's trust issues), but I still enjoyed them especially GoBusters fight footage combined with the original stuff, like Ravi's overheating. Nate going over-the-top as Steel was fun and it was cool seeing Robo Blaze impersonate the real one, which should've happened earlier in the show. Also, I wish the musical had been more of a dream sequence than to have actually happened (kind of), but they weren't bad episodes. Zoey & her brother though was pretty lame with how the original fossil was disintegrated, how rushed the whole discovery was, not to mention the comedic slapstick with the dog.

And then we got to the good stuff. Evox's comment about a "very dark past" was a great tease. Nate and Dr K would turn out to be the best teamup, surpassing the Dino Charge return. They always manage to screw up returning Rangers, yet Dr K comes in like she never left. Loved it.

I knew about the Venjix twist since August but the voice switch was a surprise. Wasn't really expecting RPM clips either. Even if I hadn't known ahead of time I always thought the "horrifying discovery" in the episode description had to be Venjix. The way the scene played out was perfect. Yeah, tying up Ben and Betty was out of character but I chalk that up to there's no way they weren't gonna water him down from RPM somehow. And despite Venjix talking like old glory, I could never buy he was as powerful even after absorbing what remained from Scott's morpher. The only downside is this episode being another example of how overused the trans dimensional portals have become and why Dr K would let GB have the morphers briefcase in the first place.  And sure Beast Morphers used a lot of arrows but if it works, might as well roll with it.

Going into the finale, I guess I shouldn't be surprised the Venjix origin was largely ignored but it was great they kept the voice and referenced taking out a civilization. To me, the missing robotic voice filter could simply have been a side effect of the snake DNA/Morph-X. The Vault may have been something not planned early on (and could've been introduced earlier) but Chip definitely knew Evox was going to be Venjix with having Andrew Laing under the Randall Ewing pseudonym I thought was clever.

For todays modern PR, I was fine with Steel's sacrifice and how they worked in a final helmetless scene. I liked how it gave the team the drive to defeat Venjix adapting the GoBusters team energy flow. I don't know if allergic to human DNA was really the best idea and I realize putting things in retrospect how much they had the various DNAs as plot devices... not always executed well. Also, I thought redubbing the actor was fine, like something Neo Saban would've done. I really dug his running morph and the morph theme a final time. I thought for sure Nate would be the one to make Steel human and while I'm not too sure about the Grid acting sentinent, in this case, bringing him back with randomized Nate DNA mostly made sense to me. Having Jamie Lineham do it would've been cool, but I assume it came down to wanting a young actor. Also wish Colonel Truman could've had a longer scene but I did like Scrozzle getting captured offscreen hiding out around Corinth. 

 

I know some people had issues with the flashforward and Devon's promotion but I thought it made for a nice sendoff. Not the best finale but easily one of the best since Disney era, as well as Samurai which I always thought had a solid end, better than most of its 2 years. That's something I do miss now that Neo Saban at least tried, when finales had that cool finale moment (like Super Megaforce's mid-morph roll call) and would do something big like when the Samurai Megazord cockpit was destroyed.

4/5's except for 

"FOSSIL FRENZY" 3/5

"SOURCE CODE" 5/5

 

PRBM: Evox Snare through Grid Connection

Continuing from "SECRET STRUGGLE," this was a solid 5/5 start for Beast Morphers final stretch run. I thought Evox would possess Mayor Daniels awhile longer, but I get that Devon wanted to save his dad quickly and get this resolved. The show doesn't always get the references right, but they were spot on here with Devon contacting Dr. K for help. I just wish the Vault had been at least hinted at sooner, plus how exactly did GB acquire some of that stuff? Can't help but hope Venjix wasn't in one of the acquired RPM morphers... >_>

As for the Chaku two-parter, I really liked seeing Gavan in original footage, the storyline around it, and how this all leads to the teamup. Ryjack was one of the best MoTDs in awhile. Some great unmorphed action in this with the reanimated foot soldiers. With so much MMPR nostalgia and remade Ranger suits in this day and age, I didnt think even think about the fact the original Putties hadn't been seen since season 1, only Z-Putties in PRiS. Also, I like Hasbro's new lightning bolt graphic to start the show. Things then took a bit of a downturn. I would've liked it better if Chaku had stayed RoboCop and perhaps his boss could've convinced him to go home to see his daughter, instead of Nate doing it, and making him human with the neural aligner. Plus it makes me realize how much Ranger tech has turned into magic now, unlike the old days of just being tech (like in PRLR), something I'm too sure about. We could've done without Ben & Betty in this episode with the Mario-ish Piranha Plant as well. 5/5 & 4/5

"FINDERS KEEPERS" was a great part 1 of the teamup, ultimately becoming a lot better than the following episodes, easily earning a 5/5. I love how Sledge returned with the classic "IT'S A BOMB," asks for his crew and Scrozzle reanimates EVERYONE, even Curio & Fury, previously forgotten about. Some great throwbacks with the van chase and old school back to back BM/DC team morphs.

While the Megazord battle felt tacked on, it worked as a way to keep the BM Rangers away from the ground fight I thought, nothing like SPD's weird usage of Dekranger in teamups. Seeing the Psycho data card, what are the chances Nate reformats and they actually use it?

 "MAKING BAD" potentiality could've been good but was squandered with the clip show unable to use the episodes original audio. Mystic Force was about the only decent part, since they got Leanbow, Koragg and Gekkor back for the redub. Apparently that was supposed to be Xander saying "He's a Ranger"? And how did they manage "Korogg" and "Mondoo" making it in? O_o

I did like they had Antonia Prebble return as Astronema, Beth Allen as Udonna and Susan Brady (Mystic Mother) for Rita. But yeah, Zedd was terrible especially that Zeo finale scene, clearly the show just getting a familiar VO to do it (Stig Eldred, the Neo Saban era Narrator among others). This made me think of "LOST & FOUND IN TRANSLATION" and coincidentally Steel/Vargoyle was AbareRed in that episode. Also, come on Evox, you only watched season 1 Goldar, for like a minute. Really hard to buy it was the same one with that voice. No fair Sledge is vaporized instead of given a bomb one last time, but that was pretty minor to the bigger issues.

Bastardizing the sentai is nothing I haven't seen before but "GRID CONNECTION" was up there with "LEGENDARY BATTLE" and "WORMHOLE" for bad ideas/fight sequences in crossovers. Having watched the morph a hundred times online before had made me even more hyped. Oh boy.

Why did the Morphin Grid have to send the meteor? Why couldn't GB have sent out a distress call and Jason comes in WITH the Power Coin? How did Rocky seemingly lose possession if not given to Jason? Why waste time with the moral and not start the action sooner? Jason coming in and revealing himself to be the real head of GB would've been cool.

I always feared the MM and DT Rangers would just show up, and sure enough they did. Plus the idea of using the Power Coin energy to send a message didn't make things any better. I felt like we needed an in-show reason for Snide to be brought back again, than to speculate Evox or Scrozzle must've liked him enough to have him teamup with Not-Goldar. I get including DT defeating Snide and didn't mind the redub, but there really should've been more room in between all this fast-paced action. I didn't quite get he zord summoning (which I assume was more of a footage thing) but do appreciate seeing the cockpits again, and Beast-X King joining DC Megazord. I just wish the zords could've done more.

I did like that this took place in the DC Dimension which I wasn't expecting and Devon going in the Grid was better than the Overdrive approach with making it a physical object. As a fan of Tyler/Brennan, I always like how they work in his catchphrase.

I'm just going to call part 1 the real teamup of the season. This wasn't any better than a 3/5, as is the clip show. Now hopefully they can bounce back and pull out all the stops in time for the finale.

Rollin' 4's for Beast Morphers

Beast Morphers returned for season 2 with a kind of uneventful episode but still better than past second premieres in Dino Charge and especially Ninja Steel. The team not believing Steel's conspiracy theories was a decent enough plot and I thought it was perfectly reasonable how they thought Evox and Scrozzle were gone. We then got our only Roxy episode in a plot about beach trash harming wildlife, which I thought was pretty decent - a plot the show doesn't specifically do a lot of. I liked how human Blaze & Roxy were caught and used and to make new robot clones, though Scrozzle having a machine be able to download them into new bodies (should they get destroyed) feels rather cheap. Plus it was cool having Miriama Smith (Elsa, DinoThunder) return playing Aunt Regina.

And the show continued on a pretty steady pace. We find out Evox has taken over Mayor Daniels and it's great watching him keep up the ruse. Finally, Ravi has to confess to Commander Shaw about his love of painting in an episode with Kelson Henderson playing the goofy painter human version of  Keytron. I liked the introduction of Beast X Mode as well.

About the only downside to this block of episodes is that he show really doesn't do discipline that well so Steel taking things a little too far just didn't quite work. And Megan ends up getting redeemed which I could've done without but it was still a decent debut episode for Beast King. We also got one of the better comedic moments when Steel's legs are hit with the evil dart and start running off on their own, with everyone in peruse. It makes me think how past seasons (like Disney Era) would've probably had Steel as the only comedic relief instead of Ben & Betty's wacky slapstick. Ben sticking up for her when Juan just wanted to dance forever was I'd say their best moment in Beast Morphers to this point. Also, I liked that they did a sports special likely meant to coincide with the Summer Olympics originally (replacing the Christmas episode) and how they used it for the boxing ring Megazord battle from GoBusters.

The midseason finale was by far better than Neo Saban ones. I loved how Zoey got an unmorphed fight with a solo morph (first Yellow solo since Summer in RPM) and a cool battle with the Spin Sword. Liked how Steel tried to help getting her & Nate together, and the issue of confessing to Shaw about them being an official item. It didn't make a lot of sense Evox (as Major Daniels) staying in GB so long or why Scrozzle just couldn't teleport in some Morph X himself earlier, but it made for one of the best cliffhangers ever when he transformed in front of everyone. The Armada arrival at the end of Megaforce was also pretty good but this was easily the best cliffhanger to compliment a good season since the classic spring/fall airing format. Now it's onto the second half (which I've been waiting to air in the US) and what sounds like a pretty awesome storyarc I can't wait to talk about.

4/5's except for  
"THE BLAME GAME" 3/5
"SECRET STRUGGLE" 5/5

A Legendary 20 Years with Zelda + Gaming in the 2010s

9 years ago I did my original post about gaming, growing up with Super Mario and other highlights from the Nintendo game systems (Check it out here). Now is the second part and my how times have changed the past decade. For one thing, the Wii I've had since 2008 was retired in 2019 due to the disc drive no longer working which I kept using into the Switch era for Wii Fit. I have yet to replace it with most likely a used Wii off eBay but will probably do so next year.

It's still funny to me how much I used to almost never buy games until they had been out awhile, sometimes feeling late to the party or unsure if I'd get it at all. It took awhile but that changed with playing more, which I'd say (picking up from the first post) started when I was unemployed throughout 2014. With a lot more time on my hands, I purchased Super Mario Galaxy 2, a game I wasn't real sure I would get, but was glad I did leading to a LOT of time with Mario's planet hopping adventures between this and SMG1. I always enjoyed getting 100% completion when it was possible dating back to SMW, but both games did not make that easy, leading to taking measures to make it easier, and raking in the hours on them (I'd end up coming back to both to complete after initially playing through them right up until the end of the Wii era). Gradually though I was getting behind on other Mario titles that had been out quite awhile so I finally switched gears and got 2007's Super Paper Mario, which I was pretty hyped for when it was first revealed. Gotta say, at the time, I absolutely loved the Mega Star power turning the characters giant 8 bit with the Starman remix jingle. After that I enjoyed Mario Kart Wii and then finished off the year with 2010's Goldeneye 007 remake, eventually revisiting the original '97 classic as well.

Before I get to the Switch, it's time for my history with Zelda. August 1999 through June 2000 was when I played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, my very first experience with the franchise. I can't say why I didn't get into it sooner, other than growing up pretty much with Mario, any ads/commercials I saw for A Link to the Past on SNES, I probably didn't think much of. I do remember seeing Zelda II: The Adventure of Link at a friends and probably thought it looked weird compared to SMB. Even in the 90s I'm not sure how much I knew that the hero you play as was NOT Zelda. One day my sister gave me a copy of Ocarina of Time she had been given and I soon worked by way into Hyrule Field. It was an awesome time playing through the adventure, experiencing the revolutionary time mechanic of switching between young Link/older Link, capped off with my first game ending battle with Ganon. Of course the graphics are dated now but I still fondly look back and consider Kokiri Forest one of my favorite starting locations ever. I was so satisfied, I decided to pass on 2001's Majora's Mask sequel, party due to not being interested in the 3 day clock in-game mechanic. While I was busy with Super Mario Sunshine, Nintendo took Zelda in a completely different direction, releasing the cartoon style Wind Waker. Loved it or hate it, I was happy to finally purchase a Zelda game and enjoyed playing through it in 2004. That year also saw the greatest Zelda reveal of all time, when a trailer for a not-yet titled Twilight Princess was shown at the annual E3 press conference - what felt like a true Ocarina of Time adult Link sequel. The game would come out in 2006, but as I was looking to spend time on my new Nintendo DS handheld, I decided to get Wind Waker's sequel, Phantom Hourglass in 2008 after it had only been out a few months, as sort of a companion while I played Super Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii.

By 2012, it was finally time to start catching up on Zelda after playing through Super Mario Galaxy. 1993's A Link to the Past was a fun nostalgic trip back to what I had missed in simpler gaming times and then I brokeout the GameCube again for Twilight Princess. I still kind of wish I had gotten it first instead of Phantom Hourglass, especially with it going back to adult Link and how misleading the title turned out to be. I was mind blown finding out that Midna, Link's imp-like guide in the game was the Twilight Princess in her true form. I then got Skyward Sword in 2015, more colorful and another great story in the series really getting into the lore of it all, though it wasn't quite as revolutionary and the Wiimote motion controls got annoying.

When I got the Switch in July 2017, Breath of the Wild of course had to be first with its wonderful new open world and game mechanics. I'd spend a satisfying year with it, taking occasional breaks to enjoy Mario Kart 8 (which I thought I'd have to skip entirely but was thankfully ported over from Wii U). Trying to conquer 200cc and get gold trophies wore me out so after a few months (and finishing BOTW) it was time for something else. Long overdue to get back into Donkey Kong Country, I decided to try Tropical Freeze, which turned out to be not really my thing even with an easy mode, likely marking the end of ever owning another DKC title. So it was time for Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, the all-star Zelda hack n' slash loaded with all the content you could ask for (combining the Wii U/3DS versions), with an amazing story mode and cut scenes beating anything from the main Zelda series. 

Summer 2019 it was time for a break so I picked up Super Smash Bros Ultimate - loaded with EVERY fighter and stage in Smash history. I enjoyed playing through the games World of Light story, but quickly realized the replay value of smash battles Melee & Brawl had is gone, and it's not something I'd be interested in playing online with random people. Plus, I realized just how forever special Melee is to me because it was completely new concept (after skipping 1999's original Smash Bros), and I loved having an all-star Nintendo lineup to play with, going on to spend hours and hours fighting NPCs. Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid also ended up being rather short lived (something I'd much rather play with friends, like Fortnite), so it was back to Hyrule Warriors while I figured out something I'd stick with.

I got Super Mario Maker 2 - originally debuting in 2015 on Wii U - so skipping Wii U I knew I had to get in on the second version. And man, did I get a whole new respect for classic Mario, especially (as I talked about before) having fond memories in the days of the SNES with Super Mario All-Stars being the first time I really experienced playing through Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World being the first flagship Mario title I completed 100%  (I'd still pretty much consider my favorite) and Mario Kart being an entirely new concept. Now I can  play and create courses all I want, from the original SMB to the recent 3D World. Making your own courses and what mine would look like is something I never thought about before but is fun to work with, a bit of a successor to Mario Paint of yesteryear. I especially love Mario Maker giving the games a night mode and new themes not in the original games. Playing competitively against random people is also pretty fun - something I'm not that great at but always satisfying to be the first one at the goal. The concept of making your own version of Super Mario World is not a new concept thanks to Lunar Magic, the program that allows you to edit the game on PC - something I thought about trying myself over the years - but to be able to do it officially is pretty special.

I never got into using the Wii's Mii service with friends, so I'm glad to finally be in the age of connecting with friends on the Switch and having a Nintendo online service, which I've used a lot for Mario Maker and sometimes playing Fortnite with my homies. Lots of NES/SNES titles are available for instant play on the Switch as well, which is nice as the original cartridges gradually wear out. Eventually I started to hit a creative wall as working on the same courses in the editor got old, so I had to think about getting something else. Despite missing out on Super Mario Odyssey, I didn't want to just keep playing all Mario all the time (like on the Wii), so I decided it was time for something brand new and gave Animal Crossing: New Horizons a shot, which has turned out to be a very nice life simulator, especially in a time when escaping reality sounds pretty good. Plus I intend to keep playing Mario Maker occasionally to make use of the online service and finish off all the courses I started working on. And with a lot of my shows off until next year there's plenty of time for the ACNH daily routines and working on creating/shaping the island. I also gotta give a quick honorable mention to Mega Man, whose classic games I've always been a fan of, they're just not for me (though I couldn't pass up on getting 2008's Mega Man 9 throwback before the Switch came out).

Here's to the next decade with more revolutionary moments, the Mario Movie on the way, not to mention what's in store for Breath of the Wild 2, sure to be as much of a must-buy as the first keeping the Legend alive well into its 35th year and beyond.