Starting Knockout Home Fitness

When I was working for Brice Construction, I was talking to this surveyor and he brought up that he needed a level. Without an actual level anywhere he pulled out his cell phone and used an app in place of a level. He told me we have all these wonderful things that can be put to great use, we just need to use them. When it comes to my cell phone I probably give myself too much screen time going over what's happening on Twitter, when I could get more utility from it.

The same could be said about my Nintendo Switch. It's a gaming console so of course I've used it mostly for entertainment. Even when not playing a game I spent hours on the device watching videos on YouTube and Hulu. Recently I've been seeing how far I could get into the game Donkey Kong without losing all my lives. But there's games I could use for more than just entertainment.

Okay here we go #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/Mfugh422qJ

— Joshua Hadley (@JoshJHadley) May 3, 2022

While the fad of games having motion controls has died down since The Wii days there's still options out there with games like Knockout Home Fitness. Everyone who follows me on social media will know that from time to time I'll post how much I weigh and how much I've lost in a week. It's been pretty sporadic. I figured if I post my weight all the time that I could maybe shame myself into working on losing weight. It didn't work, I'd just quit posting how much I weigh for several months at a time.

No instead what I needed was to make it fun. I had to figure out a way at working at losing weight that wasn't a chore. Knowing games like this exist I decided to give it a try.

Aw damn #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/AvRGAk4ibc

— Joshua Hadley (@JoshJHadley) May 3, 2022

Today is the first day I played this game and it's certainly different than games I'm used of playing. But not always being able to just go outside I need some way to workout that's fun. Like any other game this isn't one I'm going to play forever. I mean come on this isn't Tetris. But this could open the door to something else and doing the same old same old hasn't really gotten me anywhere.

Mario Kart's DLC breathes new life into the game

Since the first wave release of Mario Kart 8's new DLC I've gotten back into playing the near decade old game. I know plenty complained that there hasn't been a new addition to the series outside the mobile gotcha game, but we should remember the game originally released on The Wii U, a console that was a failure for Nintendo. On The Wii U the game was able to sell 8 million copies, while on The Switch the game has sold over 43 million copies. So, there was certainly room for this game's community to grow even years after its release date. Instead of giving us a new title with barely any improvements, or worse less content, it's a breath of fresh air that instead that our older titles get new exciting content.

Paris Promenade is a wonderful track that has you racing along monuments like The Eiffel Tower and The Arc de Triomphe. Shortcuts are hidden and items are needed to get through them. This map probably has the largest piranha plant I've ever seen in this game, looking to snatch players that get too close. This track also changes on the third lap, having you drive through the course in the reverse direction!

Toad's Circuit is probably the most basic of the game and is my least favorite from the first wave of new DLC. There are shortcuts that you can't miss before the finish line.

Choco Moutain is the track that I was looking forward to playing the most out of these and it doesn't disappoint. This track is certainly one of the more dangerous levels, with boulders rolling off the mountain onto the racers. Not only that but you have bats to dodge while making your way through a cave before making a large jump. And the track ends with several large bumps that may help you get past a few players who haven't done tricks to boost their way to the finish.

Coconut Mall is a fan favorite from The Wii and is a greatly welcomed addition. Just like in a real mall this one has several escalators, and this game allows you to follow your childhood dreams of trying to go up the one that's going down. That's not what you want to be doing though if your plan is to win this race. Along with some really tight turns there's fountains and trees you can use to do tricks and gain an extra boost. There's a jump from the mall to the parking lot where you have to avoid parked cars before reaching the finish line. This is certainly a go to track in online races.

Tokyo Blur has you racing through the largest city in The World. Just like real life when you're driving around in a city you run into some nonsense, but instead of construction there's thwomps in the middle of the road! You gotta be ready for whatever this game is going to throw at you, from blue shells to tracks that change between laps.

Shroom Ridge gives you the challenge of trying to race in traffic. With the tight roads I find this track more difficult than Toad's Turnpike but it gives you a chance with it's ramp that's hidden out on a field.

Sky Garden has you racing in the clouds and this map favors those who can use boosts to get through this track's shortcuts.

Ninja Hideaway is a track with several secrets for you to find. There's several things coming at you to slip you up, like spikes coming from the ceiling or bananas that appear before the jump in the course. I normally have trouble with the extremely sharp turns, bumping into walls or even flying off the track.

I'm having fun playing all of these tracks and I certainly look forward to when Wave 2 comes. Of all the kart racing games that comes out Mario still comes on top as king, even with a game that game out in 2012. If you own a Nintendo Switch this game is certainly a must own title and you should check out the new content coming out.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Fortnite has this huge update because there's a new season and I asked my friends what I should play and I guess they must not like me because they told me to play Zelda II.

Okay #NES #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/XeunccHkw1

— Joshua Hadley (@JoshJHadley) June 26, 2020

OH MAN!!! #NES #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/wROl8BjgZ7

— Joshua Hadley (@JoshJHadley) June 26, 2020

I can't be the only one thinking that Link's getting a happy ending there. Anyway I'm running around the two towns in the beginning area I run into a guy that says this.

What? #NES #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/EIbYbHkgcS

— Joshua Hadley (@JoshJHadley) June 26, 2020

 What's that about? Must have been something they missed or maybe it's a joke? I don't know.

WHERE IS THAT? #NES #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/h381aS84sB

— Joshua Hadley (@JoshJHadley) June 26, 2020

So when I go into a cave I can almost see nothing because to be able to see enemies in a cave you need a candle. Okay that makes sense but where the heck is Parapa Palace? I can't go anywhere else but the caves unless I'm missing something. So I did struggle though two caves so far and I got items but none of them were the candle. I think I see a palace in the game but I can't get there without the hammer! I'm really lost on what I'm supposed to do in this game.

Fire Emblem Warriors (Switch) review

To give the blog content I decided I should start doing movie and game reviews. I just finished the story to Fire Emblem Warriors with my pal Chris Foster and it seems we honestly felt the same way about the game.

I say this before I move onto the review I haven't 100% competed the game. Like I said Chris and I finished the main original story. We've moved onto History mode and do plan on finishing it. Okay onto the review...

I wouldn't say I'm a fan of Destiny Warriors. I have been buying the games for years. My problem with them is that they get repetitive. The game is rather simple. You go around button mashing to kill enemies. The formula is changed a little here and for the better. Playing as a flyer like Hinoka or Camilla was great fun. It was awesome to fly around to map with great speed.

So what sets this apart from of Destiny Warriors games is Fire Emblem's support system. And honestly this new spin helps make the game more interesting. I just said how great it is to be a flyer in this game. But if you're playing as a flyer and you run into an archer you're toast just like in a Fire Emblem game. But you can switch to a different character that's supporting you. That adds another dimension of strategy to the game.

There's a number of different classes that would'd normally get in Fire Emblem games like you can play as a healer or an archer. You can upgrade your equipment and your costumes. That's really cool.

You can build special attacks which are really cool. You can also build up double team attacks. It's just you and your support attacking the field at the same time.

The story is okay. I understand that in Awakening and Fates we have some weird time travel and cross overs that could happen. And that's what this story is all about. I get why they did it. Just doing Warriors for one of the games would have left fans of the other games out and since Fire Emblem isn't one of Nintendo's top IPs it probably isn't a smart idea to do that anyway.

But doing that really overshadows the original characters in this game. Honestly I was never really invested in what was happening with Rowan and Lianna. It sucks that they made original characters for this series and they just get overshadowed by all the charterers we loved from past games. Just imagine if we played Fates and all we did was run into past characters. We probably wouldn't end up caring about Corrin and what their story was. We'd be going ga ga over all the old characters we were seeing.

Why didn't we just get Alfonse and Sharena from Heroes to be the two main characters in this game? It would have been more interesting to dig into what their story was than trying to do something like this.

So anyway the story isn't that great. But the supports are more fun than ever. This isn't like Awakening and Fates where you get 3/4 scenes between the characters. In Warriors you just get one. As someone who's been a fan of the series for a few years I gotta say I really enjoyed these.

I'll also say you shouldn't just complete the story before starting History Mode. I just started it with Kitty and we're just dominating these battles so far. Our characters are high level and we're given level 1/2/3 characters to battle. So we're just mowing throw them and it's really not challenging or fun. I'm sure as we move on it'll get harder but I'm not sure it will. If I do DLC reviews I'll get back to you on that.

Playing this on The Switch I did have to wait for enemies to load for a few seconds if I moves to a different area quickly. It wasn't too annoying. I did notice lag/slow down here and there but it was never bad or distracted me from the game. It just happened when a lot was happening in the game. Maybe it wouldn't happen at all on single player.

So to conclude this the game play is a step up from what you'd normally get from a Destiny Warriors game. The story isn't good if you ask me. And 99% of the time it played great on The Switch.

I think for Fire Emblem fans this is a must own. If you love Destiny Warriors you'll love this too. But to the casual gamer I'd tell them this is a decent game. Nothing spectacular. If you own a Nintendo Switch there are other games you should seriously consider getting before this one. But if you want to get this it's a good game to play for an hour here and there. My score for Fire Emblem Warriors on The Nintendo Switch is 6/10.