Topic: The Universal Games Ranking Forum (Currently: Characters/Weapons/etc. You Hate Playing Against)

I've not played either but I feel confident in saying that anyone defending Shadow the Hedgehog is trying too hard to defend a brand they like. Even compared to a dated game like Sonic Adventure.

Sorry I'm late with this, I was gonna do this yesterday but the internet was down for most of the day where I am. Anyways, here's our new poll.

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=599beecee4b0fd4067ad5655

Our options are:
Mainline Dragon Quest Games
Rareware Games
Top Worst/Best Mario Kart Retro Tracks
Mega Man 1 - 10

As always, the current topic is still relevant, and will stay as such until the poll closes. Remember that you don't need to be logged in to vote. Easypolls is unrelated to Nintendo Life and doesn't require it's own signup.

Also, I've been thinking about this, and I've decided this is Dragon Quest's last chance. It's been runner up twice in a row, and if it's second again, it'll have to wait a few polls until it returns. Same goes for any option that may consistently be a runner-up in the future.

@CreamyDream Yo I completely forgot Space Station SS, it didn't even click with me that I played that game a while back. I'd honestly go as far as to say it's a hidden gem on the N64.

@Snaplocket I just remembered this today actually, and as much guff as I give SADX, I never mentioned how fun that game is to speedrun. The glitches can be a turn off when you play the game normally, but in a speedrun you actually get to use them to your advantage, and it's a pretty good time.

@BigYellow - How far back are we considering Mario Kart tracks "retro?"

@Paraka It's acutally something different altogether, sorry for not clarifying this. In this case, retro tracks represents any recreation of a Mario Kart track in a later game, the ones normally in the Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning Cups.

The idea is for people to rank what they think are the best and worst recreations of a track in a future game, for example, Mushroom Bridge in MKDD had several things removed when being remade in MKDS like alternate routes and shortcuts, doesn't play as well due to not suiting MKDS' physics as well as MKDD's, and didn't have any new ideas or innovations, so it would mostly be considered a bad retro track. Something like GBA Bowser Castle 3 in MKWii is hailed as a very good retro track as it fits MKWii's physics beautifully, plays well, and was rather forgettable in it's original incarnation.

Also tracks wouldn't be considered good or bad retro tracks if the original track was good or bad, for example, Dry Dry Desert is widely hated in MKDD, but many people love the MK8 remake. Therefore, while the original isn't considered a good track, the remake is still a good retro track as it fixed issues people had and introduced ideas people liked. The opposite would be something like GCN Baby Park, the track is nearly unchanged from MKDD to MKDS, but is loved in DD and hated in DS because the chaotic gameplay of MKDD was suited for Baby Park, while MKDS wasn't nearly as chaotic, so the track just felt barren.

Lastly, unless it suits the physics or gameplay of the new game than the original, a straight port of a good track does not equal a good retro track. For example, Waluigi Pinball is a good track, but I don't like the MK7 rendition as there's nothing new and it doesn't play as well on MK7. On the other hand, Peach Gardens is almost the same in MKWii as the original on MKDS, but that track just plays so well in MKWii, and I love it there despite not being huge on the original.

That might be a bit long winded, but hopefully that'll clear everything up for anyone wondering.

@Snaplocket True, Mario Kart 8 would have the edge, maybe 1 or 2 best and worst from each game would suit better. I feel like MK7 would be disadvantaged too, as MK7 added a lot of fan-favourite tracks with very little consideration if they'd be fun with the MK7 engine.

R.I.P Mushroom Gorge

@Snaplocket There's a few highlights, Dino Dino Jungle and Koopa Cape to name a few, but most do the MKDS shtick of being straight ports with not much new. The Retro Courses in MK7 are overall better than MKDS though. Mushroom Gorge isn't awful in MK7, just nothing compared to it in MKWii. The tricks off the mushrooms were less fun and beneficial, no shortcut at the beginning, none of those beautiful MKWii physics allowing some bananas tricks and shortcuts, and no gap jump at the end. Still okay though.

My first 3D platformer I played was Toy Story 2 on PC. It's also available on PlayStation, N64 and Dreamcast, as well as GBC but that version isn't a 3D platformer for obvious reasons. As far as I know, it's something not many have played. Everyone always talks about Disney games on NES and SNES but I personally like Toy Story 2 more than any other Disney game.

Toy Story 2 has solid controls, great music and the stages follow the movie quite well. Every stage has 5 missions: Collect 50 coins, find 5 things, race or timed event, mini-boss and a hidden token. You can also get new skills by finding Mr. Potato Head's missing pieces. The stages are usually a bit bigger than in Mario 64 and they're a blast to go through. And while I'm talking about Toy Story, Toy Story 3 is great as well.

Right, thinking of closing the poll and starting a new topic in about 3ish hours. Seems like we've a clear winner, but if you've any last minute votes, the poll's here.

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=599beecee4b0fd4067ad5655

Edit: Closed! Gimme a bit while I tally up.

The poll is now finished! We're onto our next topic, here are the results, pretty close game.
1st - Mainline Dragon Quest Games - 41% (7 Votes)
2nd - Top Worst/Best Mario Kart Retro Tracks - 35% (6 Votes)
3rd/4th - Mega Man 1 - 10 - 12% (2 Votes)
3rd/4th - Rareware Games - 12% (2 Votes)
There you go, third time's the charm, cause Dragon Quest is our new topic!
This is the first one I'll have to sit out, I've never touched Dragon Quest. Either way I'll lurk a bit, and maybe I'll see something that'll convince me to get into the series.
The Mario Kart Option will be on the next poll, lemme know what you wanna see next!

Rappy Hanking!

How about 2D Sonic games? That could be fun.

@Nintendoer I was thinking of getting Sonic on here somehow. I think talking about the 2D games is a good idea, discussion on the 3D games could get messy. Also thinking of bringing Street Fighter back for another shot, it was meant to be on the last poll and slipped my mind completely. Dunno how I managed that considering it's all I've been playing recently.

Well, looks like I'mma have to sit this one out since I've never bothered to actually finish any of the DQ mainline games. The thing is, I like the monsters and battle system but none of the games I've tried had compelling protagonists, antagonists or story that I felt motivated to keep on training and traveling. The only mainline DQ game that I have any sort of connection with is Dragon Quest 8. My dad played it on the PS2 back in the day and I would occasionally come and watch him play. The following includes DQ8 spoilers, reveal at your own risk! And when he finally made it to Dhoulmagus, he and I were so excited that he, after roughly fifty hours of play, finally faced the final boss only to learn that he was only at the half way point of the game (he had quite a bit of trouble with Dhoulmagus so he had me look up a walkthrough, that's how we learned). It took him bit over 100 hours to beat the game.

How about Mario platformers as an option (so I could rant about NSMB, 3D Land and 3D World )

@GoldenGamer88 100% on Mario Platformers, NSMB needs to be torn to shreds. 3D World won't be safe either.

Here is a list of all my favourite Dragon Quest games that I have played, in ranked order of preference.

#1 Dragon Quest VIII Vast game, simple yet rewarding combat mechanics, still looks good to modern eyes, and the sound is excellent (though I played without any voice track). I spent more than a hundred hours maxing out characters' skill trees, smashing metal slimes, beating the main quest and post-game content - and enjoyed every minute. My main quibble would be that it is long - very, very long. So long.

And, er, that is the only DQ entry I've played. I own DQV and DQVI but, since DQVIII took up SO much time, I've not quite managed to gear myself up for any others yet, even though I know they're a good bit shorter. One day...

Honestly, this would have been more successful if we'd have kept Final Fantasy...

@Snaplocket While I cannot speak for @BigYellow I myself despise these two. Now, before I say anything more, let me just establish that they are Mario games, a series known for its amazing and fantastic games. So are 3D World and 3D Land. However, to me, they represent what I like to call the "New Super Mario Bros.-ivication" of 3D Mario games. I won't go into much detail as I wanna keep this as short as I can but to me, 3D World and 3D Land are the NSMBs of 3D Mario games. Squeaky-clean, easy to pick up, easy to win. They borrowed way too much from the SMB games that they ended up being SMB 3D rather than a true successor to 3D Marios. They were still fun to play through but cannot even hold a candle to any of the four 3D Mario's toes. I'd have way more to say but this discussion should be held on another day as we're ranking the mainline Dragon Quests right now.

@Krillin_ This is kinda what worried me about having DQ as an option, but we'll see if it picks up. If not, I'll just start the poll eariler than normal.

@Snaplocket They're both great games, but I'm in the same boat as @GoldenGamer88 here. I think 3D Land is great for what it is. Similar to Galaxy but with the fat trimmed off and made even more linear, made sense for a handheld game. 3D World on the other hand felt weak as hell compared to other 3D Mario games. Sorely lacking in creativity, and the quick linear style of 3D Land doesn't suit a home console game. There was a point in 3D World where I thought 'What would I miss if I just stopped here?'. No other 3D Mario has ever made me feel that. As for NSMB, first one was a cool idea and a good game, none of the others should've existed.

Quick list for me since I've only played two of the DQ games, and I've already forgotten most of IX.

• 1: DQ IX: I really liked exploring the world and interacting with the characters and doing the many side quests.
• 2: DQ VII: Wasn't so keen on this. Some of the characters were annoying, and the story felt too long and was a drag for me. Some of the islands were interesting, but plenty of them were quickly forgotten once I was done with them.

3. Dragon Quest IV (Android) - The core gameplay is standard JRPG fare, but it's incredibly solid, and the narrative structure of playing through different quests starring each main party member before they join up for the main event is truly unique. My only quibbles are that (like most older RPGs) a few bosses are just pallet swaps of regular enemies, or return as regular enemies in the late game, and the Yeti boss in the arena could be annoying), but those are minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things, and all things considered, it has the best final boss of the 3 DQ games I've played (loved how it dynamically transformed during the battle, rather than the battle being interrupted by a custcene during each transformation).

2. Dragon Quest V (Android) - This felt like it took everything from IV, and made it bigger & better (bigger world, longer story, ect.), and it too had an awesome narrative structure as you started out travelling the world as a kid with your father, and by endgame you're an adult with your own family. Also loved all the extras you could do, whether it's finding unique items to display in your museum, or playing one of the surprisingly addictive "Treasures & Trapdoors" boards.

1. Dragon Quest VIII (3DS) - The narrative structure here may be the most standard in the series (from what I've played), but it more than makes up for it in every other area. It has a truly great cast, a HUGE adventure, and is naturally a step above every other game in terms of graphics, all while keeping the it's core gameplay intact. It took me about 100 hours to complete the main quest, and I added about 20 hours of post game stuff on top of that (what's amazing is that I still have a few things left to do). I just really wanted to get the alternate Jessica marriage ending, which I got. I know I haven't given as many detailed reasons as to why I like this one in comparison to the others (especially since it's at number one), but it took me only about a month to rack up all that play time, and that sort of immersion has to count for something.

Also, I just love the series' vibe, which is a boon to every game in the series. It's humor, Toriyama's designs, and everything just come together to make very enjoyable worlds. Really, it's quickly shot up to become my favorite JRPG series, and one of my favorite gaming series overall.

Hope to pick up VII before the end of the year, and that they localize the 3DS version of XI sometime next year.

I'm gonna have to sit this one out as well, unfortunately. I recently bought Dragon Quest V, but haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I've heard good things about the series, and I'm dying to try VIII especially, but the length is a bit off-putting right now.