Corbs

Just ordered one. Can't pass on this one.

You did a wonderful job on that little beauty she. I think $500 is reasonable, considering it's the read deal inside that little casing. As you said, you can't beat the real thing.

Yes, Renegade Kid developed Dementium and Moon.

A lot of information is still embargoed. I'd have loved to have spilled the beans on a lot of the more secret stuff, but can't do it. Plus we'd have plenty of people screaming about spoilers. There's plenty in that review to help you decide if this is a game you want. It's a review, not a FAQ. If you're looking for more information, keep your eyes on the forums when the game is released. It should heat up then.

Online play can always vary, even from day to day, depending on how many are playing and server capabilities. There's absolutely no way to gauge how online play will be on any given day or at any given time. Not to mention that we can't take into account each individual wi-fi connection that every player will be using. What might play smoothly on our super-fast connection might not play as well for someone on a slower connection. Too many variables.

The karts make minimal difference as far as upgrades go, certainly not enough to ruin the competition. But you will want to upgrade your kart to give you every advantage possible, especially when you start playing some of the better racers online. And snaking is handled much as it was in MK Wii. The power slide is time-based, so snaking it over and over is not like it was in past games where it could be pulled off at will in straight sections of track.

Smart move!

Spiny Shell....grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Looks can be deceiving on this one. I've played all 40 levels and I don't think the word "easy" came to mind much. In fact, the secret levels in the game can be downright insane. You won't cakewalk through this baby, trust me.

Will depend on how good Street Fighter X Tekken is on Vita. If it's good I might just stick with it, but we'll see how this one turns out. Sounds really good so far.

If you were tempted by the demo, you're gonna love the rest of the game.

When I see Mario pull out a 30-30 and shoot a Tanooki and then stand there and skin it for the fur, then I'll be concerned.

Can't wait to get this one this week. Haven't played a new Shinobi games in a good while. Bring it on! Great review @Dazza!

There is backtracking quests, yes, but they play a key role in the development of the story and these backtracked areas have new content upon revisit.

Ummmmmmm no.

Ummmm, that's a little further in.

Yes, you can use the Wii Motion Plus add-on for the game. They're basically the same thing, just with the Wii Remote Plus featuring the technology built into the Wii Remote itself.

I felt like the 3D was more for show than gameplay. Other than one area where the blocks become visible if you turn on 3D (although I could still tell with it off), there wasn't many instances where I found the 3D that integral to the gameplay experience. Just a nice visual touch, really.

Really there were only a handful of gripes I had with the entire game. One thing was the rather short length of the levels. I know Nintendo was going for bite-sized levels, but many of them felt like they ended just as they were getting really interesting. Another gripe I had was the backgrounds off in the distance, which lacked detail. In truth, Super Mario 3D Land is a fantastic game and one any Mario fan will likely love from start to finish, but I just didn't feel like it was quite worth a 10.

@StarDust - Yes, the RUN button is also the button for attacks and projectiles.

I agree. The run button does take a bit of getting used to with analog controls. That being said, I did find myself getting rather comfortable with it after a few worlds.

Wow I've moved on to 9s now. It was 7s and then 10s and now 9s. Awesome!

I wish people would never bring up the thumb strap ever again. I've tried to forget that tiny piece of plastic crap for so long now.

I haven't played this one in a long time. Might pick it up just for old time's sake.

Jon kicks butt again! Great stuff. Love Cookie Country.

Very good, but not nearly as good as the Hot Shots Golf games. I think once I started playing them, it made it hard to go back to Mario Golf.

I'm just not sure third-party developers are going to take Nintendo seriously and take chances releasing core games when they've become so comfortable releasing those kinds of games on the HD consoles, especially with this new console still carrying the Wii name and using similar controls. I hope you're right Portista, I really do.

I just don't think I'll be able to bring myself to buy another 3DS system until they release the model with a second Slide Pad. But that thing is gorgeous.

I think the console has the potential to cater to both, but the big question is will enough developers believe in its core potential to bring those types of gaming experiences to the system, rather than a flood of casual content like we saw on Wii.

I like the game, but it is rather redundant. Certainly not going to appeal to just anyone. Great review Phil.

I wouldn't wait too long. LOL

If anyone finds it at their local Walmart, post about it on here.

I still think this original is one of the most underrated video games ever made. I loved it. Great read Phil!

I too would much rather see the game on 3DS. I think the stylus would offer some great control solutions and like Des, have been getting far more portable-oriented as of late.

I just never liked Super Mario Sunshine. I've tried, on multiple occasions, to go back to it, but it's just not there for me. But Zelda II I still love. I remember getting it when it was first released when I was a senior in high school. Good times!

I'm just not feeling this new console. Just feels like a Wii upgrade to me. Ah well, at least it's something new to play around with. Maybe seeing some actual Nintendo franchises running on it will help boost my excitement level.

I'm not talking about Vita vs. 3DS, I'm talking about seeing how Vita does now that we've seen the 3DS struggle early on and Nintendo have to drop the price by 1/3 less than 6 months after the system's release, possibly attributed to the smartphones that people keep talking about in the arguments. Will the Vita face similar struggles early on?

And with only four top-tier first-party 3DS titles listed in Nintendo's global release schedule for 2012 so far, how long will they be able to string those four games along to keep this momentum going?

I'm anxious to see how this portable race does once the Vita launches. Then we'll have a better idea of just how much the smartphones and other devices are having on the dedicated game systems.

Nintendo has been relying on Mario, Pokemon, and old games for years. It's worked before and it will work again. You can't ride the wave forever, sooner or later you gotta paddle back out and catch the next one.

No, you have to use Kirby if you're playing the game solo. And aside from a different move here and there, the other characters play basically the same.

I might have, but I tend to prefer the music as part of the gaming experience, not so much outside of it.

While I enjoyed the pieces they performed at E3, I don't think I could sit through something this lengthy consisting of only orchestrated music. At least not without someone poking me to wake me up every 10 minutes.

We'll have the Pokemon Rumble Blast review very soon. Hold tight.

I wonder if they are going to be making this in every color 3DS they're releasing or just black.

Sorry about that. I went back and tried to inhale the other players and could still not do it, BUT you can shake the Wii Remote while inhaling and suck up the other players and shoot them out. Didn't even think to try that when we first began playing the multiplayer mode.

Well since the multiplayer plays pretty much exactly the same, even with other players involved, I didn't give too much away. You can't harm, inhale, or toss other players, but those additional players have the same abilities and copy abilities as the main Kirby player and no level changes are made for multiple players. About the only unique twist to the multiplayer mode is being able to jump on each other's backs and pull off a couple of special moves. The other characters, like King Dedede and Meta Knight do have a unique set of attacks, but they end up performing pretty much the same as those Kirby uses.

And if a player gets left behind, they will be automatically whisked back to the original Kirby player. Dying takes lives away from the main player, as does joining in the game by an additional player. So while the multiplayer mode is a lot of fun, it does make the game even easier and doesn't feature much in the way of content unique to it. If it had, I would have gone into far more detail about the multiplayer aspects of the game than I did in the review above.

I play bullet hell shmups all the time, so I always love a brutal challenge. But sometimes I like to sit down and just relax and enjoy a game. And this game suits that perfectly. Not to mention the fact that it's fun as hell.

There's just no way to know cyrus as I was only able to quickly play through the game without unlocking a lot of the things. Plus the additional challenges and stuff can offer an almost limitless amount of replayability. And that's not even considering going through the game with additional players. It's damn sure worth $50, I'll say that, but what you get out of it depends greatly on what you're willing to put into it.

Wayforward are shooting for a December release if all goes according to plans.

We should talk Castlevania more often.