My oldest kiddo and I finished The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom tonight. The 2D Zelda games are some of my favorite games of all time.

I was worried about the game’s overall look. It looked too much like Link’s Awakening, which I wasn’t a fan of compared to the GameBoy version.

I’m happy to say the screenshots don’t do the game justice. They perfected their 2D engine and included some camera control, which helps prevent disappearing into the shadows and behind objects.

The game feels like a sequel to 90s SNES A Link to the Past game with some features from the more recent Switch 3D Zeldas and lore. They even built off of the original Zelda’s 2D dungeon side-scrolling mode in a way that I thought was a lot of fun without dreading it.

While I’m happy to see Zelda finally get her own game, I thought the character had a lot of depth and one of the most interesting sets of powers and echoes, which allows for a dizzyingly large number of monsters and objects that Zelda can conjure on demand.

My only complaint was that I snagged a Lynel within the first few hours of play, but I only had enough power right before the last battle of the game to conjure it.

I’m happy that they thought out post-ending gameplay to make finding everything you missed easier, which was refreshing, instead of being stuck in a weird state.

Echoes of Wisdom might be my favorite 2D(ish) Zelda game and one of my favorite Zelda games.

I hope Nintendo lets Grezzo, the game studio behind it, continue to make weird, 2D Zelda games. This game makes me want to explore the studio’s other Nintendo 3DS Zelda games that I missed out on.

www.backloggd.com/games/the…

My favorite third-party video game hardware company, 8BitDo, announced its 11th-anniversary limited edition controllers, SN30 Pro - Golden/Silver Limited Edition.

I have over half a dozen 8BitDo controllers (and even a keyboard), my favorites, and what we pick up when my family wants to game on our Switch or iPad.

I wanted the SN30 form factor but have yet to order one. I don’t know if a metal, wired controller will fit into my library, but they tempt me.

My son and I started playing Planet of Lana, a sci-fi adventure/platform/puzzle game about a young girl and her cat. They are on a mission to rescue her sister, who was abducted by an invasion of hostile alien machines. It’s fun; we have worked together to solve the puzzles.

We are playing on the Switch, and the game is 20% off in the Nintendo Store.

My favorite emulator, RetroArch, is now available on iOS, so I can play my favorite retro console games on my iPhone or iPad. The current release is not optimized for the iPad, but like all/most iOS, it will run on the iPad in an upscaled mode. While this could be better, it’s good enough for now. 

Setting up RetroArch to handle a wide range of consoles is overwhelming. Thankfully, some good guides like this RetroArch Starter Guide. If you prefer a video walkthrough, I prefer this RetroArch on iPhone & iPad (Starter Guide). Both are great resources by Russ at Retro Game Corps, which is one of my favorite resources for emulation software and hardware. 

If you are looking for a great controller, I own way too many 8BitDo controllers. They are my favorite gamepads and arcade sticks and a family favorite in my household for our Nintendo Switch, too.

🎮 Dave the Diver: Godzilla is out! 🦖

www.backloggd.com/games/dav…

The Nintendo Switch is very popular in my household. My six-year-old is at the right age to play a round or two of Mario Kart, TMNT, Kirby, or whatever we feel like, and it’s a fun night. What gets annoying is taking the Switch out from under our TV to switch games and wait for it to reconnect to the TV.

I was sharing this “pain” with a friend of mine who shared this Unitek 4-in-1 Game Card Reader (similar model) with me, which might be the most lazy product that I own. The Unitek reader connects to your Switch and holds four games, which you can switch between with a remote button. The product has no frills, but it doesn’t have to. All it needs to do is switch games when you press a button, which it does wonderfully.

Oh, a whim, I decided to check out their website to see what other products they make, and I stumbled on their Game KVM Docking Station with Remote. If I needed a Dock, I would be tempted. TBH, I’m already tempted to know if I could stack my 4-in-1 Game Card reader with the KVM Docking station to get seven games on standby, but I suspect the remotes will be on the same frequency.

If video game emulation is your thing, I picked up Delta last week for iOS in the App Store, but I have yet to have time to try it out. I own several small portable emulation devices that I rarely use, but Delta might be the one that finally sticks because I always have my iPhone with me.

Dave the Diver is a fun game for such a random, quirky, and so many game-styles / mini-games all mashed together. In the game, you play Dave, who dives and explores the sea by day, and you run a sushi restaurant by night.

It’s one of the few games where I pushed to get the endgame out of the way to resume running my sushi restaurant, maxing out my employees, and completing my dive adventures/collecting. Even after a few months, I still enjoy playing day-to-day activities.

If you are looking for a fun 2D video game to dive into, I have thoroughly enjoyed Dave the Diver.

www.backloggd.com/games/dav…