About Eric Zavinski

I've been playing Nintendo games since I was 3 years old, and my earliest memory is watching my dad play Super Mario 64. Since then, I've become as big of a fan as you might imagine: YouTube video projects, fan fiction, owning just about every amiibo — you name it! I'm also a stalwart defender of underappreciated games like Skyward Sword, Other M, Super Paper Mario, Star Fox Adventures, Star Fox Zero and more. I love to see passion in a gaming product, and my desire on this site is to share a similar passion in what I write.

1,000 Levels and Counting: StephenPlays Reaches Morning Mario Milestone

Sometimes I wonder: have we spent more hours playing the Super Mario Maker franchise or watching others do it for us?

In the case of much of YouTuber Stephen Georg’s fanbase, the answer is probably the latter. For almost five years, thousands of viewers have been able to watch an episode of Morning Mario, Stephen’s flagship 6 a.m. EST series, showcase an awesome Super Mario Maker level every weekday morning. It’s a formula that’s stood the test of time for half of a decade, and in an exclusive interview, he told us the series’ momentum is showing no signs of stopping!

Make a Super Mario triple jump into the full feature story!

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By |2020-08-07T17:36:58+00:00May 27th, 2020|Features, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Super Mario Maker, Super Mario Maker 2 Levels|0 Comments
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Review – Ultimate Chicken Horse

There are countless 2D platformers on dozens of consoles over the decades of video game history. This century has also brought us a few sets of tools to make our own 2D platformers with the likes of the LittleBigPlanet and Super Mario Maker franchises. Leave it to indie developer Clever Endeavour Games to mix the playtime and creation aspects of the genre into one of the most laugh-out-loud multiplayer experiences I’ve ever played!

Make like a chicken (or a horse!) and jump to the full review!

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By |2020-08-07T17:38:03+00:00May 11th, 2020|Nintendo Switch, Review|0 Comments
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World Maker Update Revives Super Mario Maker 2

In a surprise announcement this week, Nintendo unveiled the final major content update for Super Mario Maker 2! It went live today, giving creators and players several new excuses to fire up the creative platformer once again!

Make the jump to refresh yourself on what all has been added to the game in the 3.0 update!

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By |2020-08-07T17:38:40+00:00April 22nd, 2020|Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Super Mario Maker|0 Comments
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NintyBeats – April 2020

The COVID-19 crisis has dampened our spirits one way or another. Lately, I’ve been needing music to energize and inspire me to accomplish the new challenges associated with this pandemic. Thankfully, there are a lot of really great Nintendo music tracks that make feel like I can take on any task ahead.

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By |2020-08-07T17:38:45+00:00April 11th, 2020|Features, Fire Emblem, Metroid, Metroid Prime, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Weekend NintyBeats, Xenoblade Chronicles|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Elea: Paradigm Shift

“What’s going on?” asks Dr. River Elea Catherine Jones as she’s being sucked into pillars of sporadic light in the game named after her.

Countless times during a brutally boring and confusing four hours, I was asking myself that same question. And my tired eyes and disappointed spirits weren’t worth getting an answer to that question. Click to read more about what we thought of Elea: Paradigm Shift for Nintendo Switch.

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By |2020-08-07T17:43:01+00:00February 17th, 2020|Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Review|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Heave Ho

There’s something freeing about the indie game industry. Maybe it’s because the gamer doesn’t have to worry about the often $60, 100-plus-hour commitment of AAA titles. Maybe it’s because what’s mainstream and popular doesn’t have to be plastered all over the brand of a new game.

Or maybe, in the case of Heave Ho, it’s because Le Cartel Studio is offering the most hilarious couch co-op in recent memory! Make the jump to read our full review!

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By |2020-08-07T17:43:03+00:00January 29th, 2020|Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Review|1 Comment
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REVIEW – New Super Lucky’s Tale

I had high expectations for New Super Lucky’s Tale after I named it my favorite game I played at E3 2019 earlier this year. The developers expressed themselves as a passionate team wanting a second chance to make Super Lucky’s Tale, which originally released on Xbox One in autumn 2017, the most refined 3D platformer it could be.

Did the second chance pay off with New Super Lucky’s Tale on Nintendo Switch, or should Lucky burrow into hiding? Make the jump and dive into the Book of Ages to read more!

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By |2020-07-13T22:02:19+00:00November 8th, 2019|Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Review|0 Comments
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