If you celebrate it, happy 4th!

The Switch game that made me once again feel the magic of gaming is Super Mario Odyssey actually. As great as the Galaxy and 3D Land/World games are, I’ve always preferred the sandbox style of 64 and Sunshine (SM64 is actually my all time favorite game), and the knowledge of a new open ended 3D Mario like those first two games made me unbelievably hyped, and the game totally delivered. Odyssey is the true follow up to Sunshine, as well as the best 3D Mario since Sunshine. I hadn’t felt that way about a single game in so long, and it felt great.

I would highly recommend exploring the GameCube as well. Easily my personal favorite console. So many great exclusives, and it was kind of an experimental era for Nintendo, resulting in many of the games being among the most unique in their respective series. My personal favorite is Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, a 10/10 classic and probably the best Mario RPG.

As much of a purist as I’d love to be, however, I’d say just emulate and get a USB GCN controller at this point. I love original hardware, but I can’t justify spending those kind of prices. I’ve seen Super Smash Bros. Melee go for over $100 before, and it makes me want to cry. Tbh I kinda wish the whole retro gaming market would collapse.