Castlevania is a long-running and well-respected franchise from Konami. Throughout its lifetime, it's encountered some difficulties maintaining freshness. When they make a breakthrough, we get games like Symphony of the Night and the Sorrow games. When they're recycling, you get Harmony of Dissonance, better known as "SotN's bastard child on your GBA". Given the success of Symphony of the Night, one would assume Harmony would inherit its strong points. Unfortunately, this is not the case and I would not recommend this game to anyone but the hardcore CV fans.

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As the fifteenth entry in the Legend of Zelda series, Spirit Tracks has rather large boots to fill. With each iteration, gamers expect a grander, more immersive and innovative experience as they plod across Hyrule or another interesting world. For those of you who played through Phantom Hourglass, you will find that Spirit Tracks feels a lot like it in play control, but is nothing like it in overall feel. Even if you didn't like Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks may have the right combination of elements to please you. Regardless, it's Zelda. And that means it's worth purchasing.

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Mario and Luigi are iconic Nintendo mascots who have been through many adventures, both together and separately. Thankfully, the adventures they go on together end up being a lot funnier. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story is the third game in the Mario & Luigi series, which started on the GameBoy Advance with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Like the two games before it, Bowser's Inside Story has a self-contained plot, a ridiculous and hilarious story, and an engaging battle system that tests your observation skills.

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I suspect some people may take notice of this some time, so I decided to answer the question pre-emptively:

Why don't any of your reviews contain scores?

Short Answer

Scores defeat the point of writing a review. My thoughts are not easily shoved into a numeric mold.

Long Answer

When you read a review for something, what matters? If you answered "score," you're wrong. Someone could post a negative review with a top score, or a positive review with an abysmal score. There are two primary questions that should be answered in every good review:

• Would you recommend this product to someone else?
• What reasons do you have to support your opinion?

It's really that simple. That's why a lot of sites have gone to "Yay" or "Nay" systems; they're simple and they allow for greater expression instead of mulling over which specific number to assign to it.

My reviews follow this principle. I urge readers to follow this elegant simplicity and do the same for their reviews.

"Mega Man." When one hears it, they think "The Blue Bomber" if they're a gamer of any caliber or culture. Spanning across most consoles and at least 5 different series, Mega Man is one of the few franchises that can rival Mario in history and number of games. Its gameplay is timeless — a mark of the gaming of yore. Unlike 7 and 8, Mega Man 9 was made to appeal to classic gamers, who yearned for the days of 8-bit graphics and chiptunes. Mega Man 9 was released to PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Nintendo WiiWare in the fall of 2008. Since then, it has been purchased and downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people. Needless to say, the game hit the ground running.

If you're after a summary, take it from someone who didn't care for the classic series much: Buy this game!

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