HyperSonicEXE

Sonic 3 and Knuckles (the full Sonic 3) is as great a platformer as SMW. And the S&K logo on the black-toned merchandise back in the day was THE thing!
And as far as title screens go, you don't get much better than Sonic 2 or S&K standalone. Those are awesome.

@Mytoemytoe
I'd love to know just how profitable the VC games are, if indeed there is this much QA going on.
VC would be helpful now and the down months of Q1 and Q2 next year. But that means they need to rush to get some really heavy hitters from the past ready.

Cowabunga on the username, by the way!

UGH! By the time a decent library hits the Wii U VC, the console will be outdated! Truth be told, it's already starting to feel dated, but, I'll enjoy Nintendo's games regardless.

This has to stop:
1. ROM dump everything except N64 onto the Wii, that'll give some access on the Wii U, blame any minor dysfunction on the Wii, and just update them later,
2. Then focus on the POPULAR titles for the Wii U's VC.

Looking forward to Patty in more of a "high-octane" platformer. I can only think that'd mean Megaman-esque gameplay, given how she jumps and the guns that she's had.

Honestly, they're always taking one step forward and two steps back compared to Sonic Adventure 1.

At least that game was a rough draft in converting 2D Sonic stage layouts to 3D, by segmenting the stages and then multi-layering the segments to either take you to the fastest path, or not. This being akin to Sonic 1 or Sonic CD, mind you.

Now, thanks to the slippery slope that Rails took the level design down starting with Sonic Adventure 2, it's Trial and Error, and that's while the camera and QTE's are wrecking the flow.

@TheEmerlLad
All I know is that was DEFINITELY the same style of mask that Midna wore. That was Majora's eye for sure, though I'm confused as to why the knight helmet style.

>Lorule
>dark Triforce

I do believe they've had one too many Wilt Shrooms over in Japan.

Pick an animal or a plant. On rare occasions, an object.
Make a cartoony derivative of it.
Pick a main color.
Make it mostly that, plus some shades of that color.
Accent if it looks sharp.
Now either make it cute or baddonkey, no middle ground.

THERE. YOU JUST MADE A POKEMON.
Occasionally you can use objects, but don't never EVER go Full Ice Cream Cone. Or Full Keychain.

I can certainly see it as "required playing" for any game designer to-be.
SMB1, SMB3, SMW, SM64, SMG1 would all be part of a curriculum.

@WingedFish
Maybe Pikachu is snapping the photos, this time.

Hold on, hold on, one more thing:
"Anthropomorphized cows"
Tell me this is a joke article. They are not MORPHED in any way, except speaking, so that the player can understand why they suddenly have a bottle full of milk.
And by the way, farmers do protect their cattle from predators, so while it isn't an agreed upon exchange, there is definitely mutual benefit.

Wow. Good luck in the press, bud.

So he really missed the part where the "boss" is standing around doing nothing, and wonders why his workers are running around aimlessly?

Not reading the rest of it - this guy's analytical skills are not developed enough.

This one does sound better, but you're too late Nintendo, because I already bought Nyko's 4-Wiimote station.

@WinterWarm
Correct! I was going to pledge $200 anyway - designing an enemy for a professional game was just way too sweet a deal to pass up.

$1,000 for Shantae! Looking forward to designing an enemy!

Sorry Starfox 64 3D.
Sorry Mario Party: Island Tour.

WOW.
WOW, Nintendo!
That is considerably wacky! Fresh new enemies and powerups.

Okay, I'll buy it!
(THANK YOU FOR MAKING A GOOD MARIO GAME FINALLY!)

Well I'm glad they decided to...
puts on shades
...clean up their article.

That Lightning Cup!
I really want the huge Special Cup trophy!
Ack!

Wow that looked like Roll, from the home page thumbnail.

@triforcepower73:
It'd be interesting to know if Miyamoto made HMS, or if it was just another designer that based it on him.

I've heard an art theory that any artist that draws a face will invariably leave a little hint of their own face in the drawing without trying.

That said, Mario's got Miyamoto's flat cheeks in that cool sketch.

@JaxonH:
I agree on the term's overuse, I just use the word "Gimmick" capitalized, because that's what the Sonic Rush instruction booklet referred to the series' pulleys, springs, and other contraptions as.

@JaxonH:
Ideally, though, there should be a very few skilled players (if we're following a Bell curve assumption) that could complete an Act in the quickest clear time possible (give or take execution time) on the first runthrough.

Memorization is a skill in and of itself, but if a platformer and other certain types of game rely on it for the challenge, then that challenge is artificial since trial-and-error is allowed. Multiple routes in Sonic games, for example, are fine ---as long as--- there is a clear cut skill (increasingly difficult timing and Gimmicks) or spatial (stay along the top of the stage, Sonic 1 & Sonic CD) relationship to the achievement or fastest path. I've not seen these same defined paths in Modern Sonic, and the games' mechanics certainly are not geared that way, and have actually been noted as misleading from the above design philosophy's standpoint.

"This way, the flow of a high-level Sonic player can be enjoyed even by a novice player."

You mean people who memorized or even muscle-memorized the level and learn when to boost and to work around the stupid stops?
That's not skill. The only skill is in the execution of Gimmicks or timing jumps and the like.

Sonic CD's Time Attack is a great place to cut one's teeth studying stage layouts and designing fastest routes for skilled players. Of course it takes a few tries to learn the true fastest route, but sometimes that's part of the fun, even if it really should be skill-based.

@Kirk:
Yeah, and even if they don't, I'm sure the reviews of D:R's graphics are still in the backs of their minds.
Still, I'd be okay with it, even if it could be a bit more uniquely stylized to the series. But then that's just me, I'm more wrapped up in the gameplay to get put off by graphics (though there have definitely been exceptions).

@Kirk:
I know DuckTales Remastered received some flack on that point as well. That's a tall order, and I'm not sure what could be done about that, looks like they hand-draw a lot. But, WayForward is really listening to and responding to their Comments section. That's how all the art got changed to make Shantae's skin darker and more closely match the originals. They've been using this engine since at least Bloodrayne - if you brought up reviews and general reception to the art style in a constructive way, I'd bet they'd listen!

@JayceJa:
That's actually how the first Shantae is. And I don't care how many powerups anyone got in that game, those Prairie Dogs bring the non-avoidable, random pain!

I would love for this game to be on the same level or better than SOTN, but I don't know if it will get the chance if some of these Stretch Goals can't get hit, especially when people are calling for it to have a ton of content (even though I liked the short, easy-replay length of Risky's Revenge).

First post ever from me, I've browsed for a while and love this site's reviews and comments. If you've thought about Kickstarting a game, or just trying it out for kicks, please help out our resident half-genie! It's a niche series, which is silly, since the 2 games that have been made so far were very fun! Not perfect, but well worth it! This series deserves a chance to be popular, and I'd personally like to see that 900k goal reached, so that this will maybe have 4-player just to even try and match up to spec with Old Samey Moreio Bros. (I hope there's a good 3D Mario in the pipeline).
Please consider helping out, and definitely spread the word, even about the past two games! I've put my pledge in, I love this series' humor and gameplay, and definitely want to see more!