The thing is, it’s not as hard as it’s reputation. A lot of it requires study and learning patterns. It would be a really short game if it was made any easier. What you’re getting isn’t just a romp to blast through in one sitting. You’re meant to spend a little time with each new boss learning it’s moves, and which weapons to equip. Then go back and try to improve the score. Like games used to be about.
The original Donkey Kong was just 4 single screen challenges to repeat, yet they made a movie about marathon players grinding away at it. Cuphead gets it’s mileage out of giving you a reason to spend plenty of time on challenges you’re meant to do in less than 2 minutes each.
Of course, if you’re trying to get the black & white filter, now we’re talking hard. Doing all the run and gun levels without the gun part gets pretty difficult.
Ok, now we have the official word. And it’s maybe the least exciting item on the list, except for people who only have PS4. And the Netflix show looks a bit better than I was expecting, but I knew they wouldn’t be able to control themselves and make a show that continued to look as authentically 1930s as the game does. They just can’t resist more modern pacing and framing. It’s good that it won’t look just like a Flash cartoon, but it still looks more 2020 than 1930.
No mention of why the official site is saying “available now” about something they still can’t even commit to a release date on. At least we got to try a brief moment to see what it might feel like to find out the DLC is live, but it’s not as much fun when it’s quickly followed by the disappointment of a big ol’ shrug for when to really expect it.
So now the question is - delayed until 2021, or 2022?
Well, thanks for getting my hopes up through a long system update, but I don’t see any sign of the DLC being available for the Xbox version. Sure, there’s a pulsing “click here” announcement if you go to the game’s page, and if you click on it, you get the same trailer we had last year.
So what’s changed to make someone think anything new has happened? I even had a 30 mb “update” that supposedly applied itself when I tried to launch the game, then up comes the same game I’ve had since the Mugman update.
Please update this article to prevent others from thinking the DLC went live only to find the only game to play is still the waiting game. I appreciate the work they put in to make this game as good as it is, but after it took them 3 years longer than expected to make it, why would we expect the extra material to not go through the same excruciatingly slow development?
Odd. I saw plenty of YouTube videos posted over the weekend by people that were sure there would be announcements of the Mario remasters today, yet no one here has even brought them up.
I guess all those Mario posters are just too disappointed to even comment yet.
All well and good, maybe DKC should have been there already, but the other titles sort of point out the eventual problem with third party games. Sure, when they first come out, they bolster the lineup with a variety of games you wouldn’t usually get from NIntendo, but the best ones become important titles to owners of that system. But fast forward to the future, where they can put a virtual version of the system in their current console, and those third party titles that were once so important can’t make their way back as easily. I can think of a lot of titles I’d rather see than “Natsume Championship Wrestling”, but that’s what they can get their hands on.
I think we know by now we’ll see Super Mario World and Link To The Past every time they bring out the old titles for a new console, but there sure are a lot of other games we plugged into a SNES in ‘93 they we’ll never see make a comeback. Even NIntendo can’t put out ALL of their old titles these days (Popeye, anyone?), so we’ll never see any “virtual console” setup giving us everything we’d want.
There's certainly plenty to choose from if you're looking for retro titles. The main issue might be a matter of preference in what type of retro you want, and a bit of frustration in what gets repeated and what gets skipped. Want the classic Pac-Man? Take your pick, it's going to be in every one of them in some form. You just need to choose between arcade or NES versions. Other titles may only appear in one form or the other.
Or, if you're like me and want to play the true classic arcade version of Nintendo's "Popeye", you have a choice between time-traveling to 1982 or tough luck.
I guess there’s some value for anyone just looking to play it that doesn’t have an official NIntendo platform to play it on. It’s a little interesting seeing the sharper image, but in a world where Odyssey exists, or even 3D World, seeing 25 year old polygons all spruced up is a bit less than eye candy. If NIntendo chose to go all in and rebuild the graphics to current standards I’d be up for the ride, but it’s hard to get too excited over a 4K version of a round pipe made of straight edges. The gameplay is classic and timeless, but unless NIntendo gives it a proper makeover, I’m afraid SM64 is too quaintly ugly to go hi def.
This article may be too old now to still comment on, but there’s a question I’ve had ever since SMM2 came out that I’ve never seen answered anywhere - What is the difference between the footprints on the course info screen and the number that appears in the clear rate? The latter is always a higher number. As an example, one of my courses shows a clear rate of 2 out of 37, but the footprints is 11. So which one is the number of plays? I assume it’s saying only two out of 37 plays were cleared, but then what is the 11?
Does it mean that 11 different players tried a total of 37 times and it only resulted in 2 clears? I went through all the info screens in the play guide, but it’s never clearly said what these mean. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a “boo!”, since that has its own icon. (I’ve never given a boo, either. If you can’t say something nice, etc...). I take the footprints to represent “foot traffic”, rather than saying that amount of people “walked out” on the course instead of finishing. But why is there a higher number in the clear rate? I realize it would feel out of place to have an exhaustive list of stats so they go with little icons and simplified accounting, but it should at least be clear what all of these numbers mean.
Either way, I know I’m one of those creators that can’t really break through to higher numbers and get on any of the “hot” or “popular” lists, but I can never really tell just how many people tried a given course. It does seem like each upload gets a little attention the day it goes up, so they must appear on the “New Courses” list at least until they’re pushed out by newer ones.
And I’ve never seen one of my own on any list. Is that even possible, or does the game filter your own courses out when you search? That’s another question I’ve never seen anyone ever answer.
Not surprisingly, I notice I've been getting "___ played your level" notifications about the first couple levels I put in my world. I don't see them continue too far in with the same player names, though, so I guess they're trying a couple levels and then bailing on it. So that's something to consider when building a world, you need something to hook them quick or they'll move on. So don't try to start slow and build to your best stuff in world 7, or they'll never see it.
It's to be expected, though. It's one thing to post single courses and hope people will find it and have the patience to see it through, but to have a whole game's worth when players know there's so much more to choose from? Imagine if MM2 didn't exist and Nintendo put out a new Mario side scroller title. You'd get it and probably play all the way through. Ok, now imagine if they put out a couple MILLION new Mario games all at once. Gonna play 'em all? That's the drawback to Mario Maker in general, you'll likely NEVER play everything that's there, just the ones you get codes for from either friends or recommendations, or random ones from the lists that are like a Mario lottery system.
So, consider yourself a pretty good designer if you get someone to stick around and finish your world, but don't feel like a failure if they only sample the first few, because there's too much temptation to see what else is out there, because there will ALWAYS be a ton more waiting for you no matter how much you play (ok, maybe half are auto-play levels or speed runs, but still).
Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's some "Ultra-Completionist" out there attempting to finish ALL of MM2. What to you think the total speed run time on THAT would be?
Really, the lives don't matter or carry over? I thought I saw that they did. Then why can you set how many to start with, to give a total amount up front?
Anyway, I just went the way of stringing along the levels I had already posted into worlds. I tried to make them relate to the themes as much as possible, but they weren't made with that in mind. I tried to concentrate on the SMW levels at the start, to try to give it that feel, but the other themes start kicking in for the later worlds. I usually aim for a medium difficulty level, with some areas requiring thought or skill but nothing too hardcore precise. What I don't do is all the specific "Mario Maker" type things- auto run, trolling, floating pipes and pits filled with enemies and stars. I try to make ones as if I'm on the Nintendo team, with a little license to put my own ideas in, and make levels that have plenty of ways to fail but never make it nearly impossible to succeed.
I'd like to find out how the whole one-at-a-time thing works, though. Can you post a world, then work on a better version of it that uses a lot of the same levels then replace it with your "new and improved" world? I could almost see Nintendo imposing a restriction that you can't use the same course twice. Not really sure why we needed a restriction like this in the first place. Is it just to keep the initial wave down and then they'll expand it the way they went from 32 to 64 to 100 course uploads? You can't really say there would be too many worlds to store if you can have the same amount of levels posted as single courses. It's just a filing system for grouping the access codes that gets attached to your profile. If the limit is 100 courses, You should be able to post at least two worlds of forty and still have twenty left. I hope they at least lift it to two after a while.
If interested, my maker code is QPH-6RK-B9G, And my current world is 7 worlds/34 levels. I'll work on some more individual courses and upload a revised world in a while if it works that way.
That’s promising. I’m only just starting to poke around in world maker, but right off the bat it certainly looks like it will change how some courses are made, or at least provide some much needed stakes to doling out 1ups. Like any regular Mario game, you start with a supply (that defaults to 30, a bit high compared to the usual), and losing lives actually has consequences. The only way it mattered before if you put 1ups in your levels is if it turned up while playing endless. And even then it didn’t matter if you put in more than 3. Now you can give players the feeling of getting something valuable by placing some, even more so if you make it a little challenging to grab it.
It’s not too surprising that there’s a limitation of one world at a time. Doesn’t seem like they really needed to impose that but I guess they have their reasons. They don’t really say if you can use levels that are already uploaded individually, though. It would be a bit annoying to have to choose between posting a level on its own or saving it to put into your world. And being able to download other people’s worlds would be helpful, too.
It kind of makes it feel the most authentic if you only use Super Mario World themed levels in a world, since there only seems to be one style to the world maps and it most closely resembles that game’s maps. I guess you can mix and match styles but you’ll always come back to a SMW feeling world map. And it also seems limited to 5 levels per world. The last one has to play to part of the “castle” level, though it doesn’t have to be a castle themed one. You can have less, but you can’t load up a world with a dozen levels in it.
Also, it might have been helpful to increase the amount of doors you can put in a level. Not that we’d want to see a ton of people do the same thing, but you can’t have a gauntlet level where you take on each Koopaling, at least not without having some fights be skippable. You need to be able to give them a key that opens your path to keep up incentive, so a limit of 4 key doors doesn’t support 7 battles. It’s not a big deal, though, because as I said we don’t want to see everyone posting the same boss parade levels. How else can we make beating them have an impact on finishing the level, though?
Still, there are some great additions here that really beef up the “make your own Mario game” experience.
@Euler Yes, it looks like it's been changed from the way it worked in SMW. It didn't turn before, it just floated to the side staying upright. Seems like you may be able to get more steering control now.
@brunojenso It looks like it's limited to 8 worlds/ 40 levels, so not quite what you were hoping. But still not bad considering we had no idea they would add a world builder at this point.
I'm wondering if we can use levels we've already uploaded on their own as part of our "worlds", or if they have to be new levels you're just adding.
They sure picked a good time to beef up the tools, with so many more people at home looking for things to keep busy with. I'd expect a flood of new levels (and worlds) will start tomorrow.
The other thing I'd like to know is what form these will take. Obviously most will vote for physical carts, which I can't imagine they wouldn't do, but what if they're only planning on making them available via Nintendo online the way the NES/SNES games are? Let's just hope they're not thinking about disappointing us with that.
Seems like Nintendo would have a bigger problem with "Super Mario Universe", which seems like more of a Mario Maker-like PC program and more directly competitive with MM. In that case the software is intentionally providing a Mario experience, rather than the "whatever you can dream up" experience Dreams aims for. It's just that many people can only dream up things involving their favorite copyrighted characters.
In a way, people putting out Mario levels in Dreams is more akin to people discussing Mario in a forum, or sending fan art to Nintendo Power back in the day. rather than all the ROM hack level editors and Kaizo levels not made in MM. Nobody's selling their levels, they're just sharing their homages.
But I can see how having dozens of "levels" of Mario just woo-hooing around in empty Peach Castles with floaty controls and misshapen faces could be perceived as infringing in some way.
I just set up a scene in Dreams this weekend dropping in a Mario, 3 different block types, a Goomba, a Koopa, coin, and mushrooms. You can then take those elements and place them throughout your scene. It gives you an idea how tricky it would be for Nintendo to attempt a Mario Maker for 3D, although I'd guess it would be a bit easier to base it on 3D World rather than SM64. And Galaxy would be much harder. If people stick to original ideas, Dreams will have more unique and interesting experiences, but it will be harder to get those noticed without the familiar names and faces to attract the browsers.
It's not necessarily "dead" franchises, it's more about "classic" and "nostalgic" ones as well. Characters like Game & Watch, Duck Hunt and R.O.B. aren't exactly promoting anything new.
The problem with all the Fire Emblem characters is that if you don't follow the games, they all seem too much alike, since they're all in standard Anime style to begin with. Meanwhile Mario, Yoshi, and Peach are all from the same series, but they're at least distinctly different characters and do very different things. All the sword swingers seem very similar, grunting and yelling out their attack phrase while their weapon fires blasts of light. Are they all somehow more unique from each other if you're more invested in their respective games?
7 characters from one game is a bit excessive even if they weren't all nearly the same. It's about time for another Sonic character. Eggman would do nicely, and Knuckles or Tails would as well. Dig Dug, Q-bert, Earthworm Jim, even Stanley the Bugman. Toss a dang Clayfighter in there. Hell, I'd even welcome Bubsy if he's not weilding a thunder sword. Just let's give the Anime warriors a little rest and not dominate the next wave.
It's not a bad thing that they want to add in some new elements to bring players back to those games. You would actually think they might want to focus on creating new titles and having players ready to move on into them, rather than luring them back to something they already own. It's more of a goodwill gesture for them to stuff a little more value into games after they already made the sale. Particularly when they add it in free, like Mario Maker and much of the Splatoon stuff. Can you imagine if a dealership you bought a car from last year offered to put in a few more features for next to nothing?
I hope they have a couple more additions to drop into Mario Maker before they're done. It's a little disappointing the game didn't make top 10 chart status, so anything that keeps interest going and keeps it in the race is helpful. Plus it's natural case for additions, since there are still a ton of things it's missing from the games it emulates. How hard would it be to incorporate Fuzzies, after all?
I don’t quite have the time to sort through and research them all, but I’ve still got pretty much everything I’ve ever acquired game-wise. I started in the SNES era but I did get the later edition NES and a few older games for it. From there I added a Genesis (with CD and 32x), Gameboy, Saturn, two Virtual Boys, PlayStation, N64, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, GameCube, Gameboy Advance (original and sp), DS lite, PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U (Wind Waker edition and Mario Maker edition), PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and a Switch. Along with those, a decent amount of games for each, despite missing some popular genres like sports games and FPS and RPG titles. Can’t help be a little curious how much all that could sell for.
Problem is, I’ve never been the type to want to dispose of things I collect, even if I know quite well I’m unlikely to actually use them. Time moves on, and it gets pretty hard to imagine feeling the need to plug a copy of Mario World into my old SNES, especially since it’s right there on the Switch, anyway.
I’m certain I wouldn’t get a fortune for all I’ve got. Not much is mint but everything is still in the full boxes and cases. Finding anyone who would want it all is unlikely, and selling it off piecemeal would be too much fuss. Lucky for me I have no intention to let of it go just now, but I also don’t have a lot of storage space anymore.
Also keeping in mind that every Wii U basically contains a Wii in it. Really the only reason Wii Us came with that sensor bar in the box. Wiimotes were still sold well into the Wii U era, too. Perhaps the main thing that will run out of supply is the Nunchuck, so you may have trouble playing Mario Galaxy on a Wii U without one of those.
That would be a good choice, and we could certainly use another cartoon mascot type character to help balance out the variety. I figure with another 6 slots to fill, at least three will be spiky haired anime characters with giant cyber swords, so it'll be a welcome addition.
I just wonder what his moves will be apart from a spin. With a key move of a jump-on-head attack, they'll need something else to flesh him out.
This was done just right, even if it doesn't match up with the other Mii costumes. I can picture what it might have been if they had an opening on the front of the cup with a Mii face in it. And it looks like it at least fires blue shots. If he was a full fledged character you would hope he'd get all his different shot types, but this is fine.
Hard to picture what a Cuphead stage would be. A 3D environment wouldn't match up to the game's look, since that is based on vintage cartoons. Maybe painted 2.5D elements at different depths?
How about the limit of courses you can create and save? It's still capped at 120, so now you can upload nearly every course you make. I don't really get why there is a limit to this. Shouldn't the only limit be space on your memory card? I don't think I'll ever come close to filling the spaces reserved for downloaded courses, but you can't use those slots for more of your own.
I’m pretty sure I had at least that many. The SNES was the first system I had. I was just out of my teens when Donkey Kong first hit arcades and spent plenty of time at Pac-Man, Popeye, and Qbert units, and even though I was aware of the NES I didn’t have the budget for it at the time. I got the SNES in late 93 when there was already a big backlog of titles and wound up piling up plenty of used and sale bin titles. So my collection includes plenty of things like James Pond and Rocky Rodent, yet almost no sports titles.
I’ve gotten every major system since then. All in all, I’d say the quantity of titles for each system has decreased incrementally until the Wii U and Switch, so I’m sure my SNES library is the largest. They’ve been packed up in a closet for years, but I still have them all.
It's likely that every possible combination already has fully set results. Much like every character in Smash has to be set up to to receive every possible attack, they probably already defined the degree of mashing up between each pairing.
What's completely left unanswered for now is what any of it will look like. An interesting idea could be hampered a bit if it doesn't have a decent art style, and for this to really shine it would need a few distinct decent art styles that could mix in interesting ways.
@KoekiieWoekiie I really hope they do put it out, but there are two points that still leave room for doubt- First is just how long it's taken. Why sit on such a first-rate title while porting so many others unless there's an issue with it. Second is what the issue is: the GamePad implementation. Since they were still trying at that stage to make the GamePad a selling point, the use of it is peppered throughout the game. There are at least 3 levels that would be unplayable without it, not to mention all the Captain Toad levels. I really wouldn't want to see a solution like what they did to make the full Captain Toad game work on Switch, by adding an annoying blue spark that's always on screen, but the only other solution is to make those levels handheld only, or lose them altogether. I play the majority of the time with the Wii U Pro Controller, but those few levels can't even be entered while using it.
It would be great to have this game get a longer lifespan and to have it in the Switch library. And to allow many who never had access see how it's such a perfect mix of 2D and 3D Mario mechanics, but I worry that those few levels are a problem for porting it. Maybe we'll see it someday, though.
@PickledKong64 I see. I’m actually not familiar with the character or how she’s used, it just seemed like they were suggesting any kind of sexual connotation was something they wanted to avoid.
Then again, even one of Peach’s attacks is to dive at the opponent butt first, which might be a battle a lot of the young male players would like to have.
Well, if there's an intention to steer clear of characters with an adult theme associated with them, how did Bayonetta make the cut? Sexual connotations galore, along with extreme violence and adult language. Better fit somehow?
Well, with the Sonic design being pretty well fixed, maybe we can turn our attention to how much Robotnik was softened to just end up as Jim Carrey with a Snydley Whiplash moustache. Yes, I know we had that quick shot where he's bald and the moustache was wilder, but couldn't they have given him at least a little of the egg shaped body as well? It also seems like he's flailing and dancing a bit too much for the character. Not sure he needs to be a full-on "zany" villian. Let's wait and see, though.
I've been waiting to see what the file size is, but it seems this is one of those titles this site isn't interested that info on. Some games get their own article link just about the file size, but others you have to wait until you can go check on the eShop. Why not add it into to game info at the top of the page?
There's no arguing that it was a commercial failure in the end, which is more a matter of timing than quality. As a piece of hardware, it was basically their best console to date during its era. It brought Nintendo games into HD, and was able to pretty much handle everything their previous consoles could, including having their most successful console basically built into it.
On paper, that sounds pretty solid. But the marketing was handled terribly, from the poorly thought out name to the lack of proper promotion, and the competition just squeezed it out of the running.
The thing I don't quite get yet is the time frame for this. It's a Kickstarter project, but they have a date of October 24th. How is it both seeking funding and slated for release it 14 days? Cuphead spent years in development limbo, even with the direct sponsorship of Microsoft, but this pops out of nowhere ready to rock in two weeks?
It's not just games, of course. This is the pattern that takes place in every kind of entertainment product. Movies, TV, music, comics, etc. These fields are mostly putting out variations on what has already succeeded (because the companies bankrolling the projects are looking to chase proven formulas), but every now and then something a bit more unique breaks through and gets attention. Then it sparks its own imitators that were either inspired by its style or are looking to repeat its success.
Cuphead wasn't likely to cause as much of a wave of imitators as Super Mario Bros or Super Mario 64 did, but it looks like it's getting at least one very direct one. It doesn't mean it'll be bad, it just means it's roots are showing.
Yeah, it's hard to not see the direct emulation of Cuphead, but any successful game has to contend with the "inspired by" titles that come out on their heels.
I saw within seconds of the trailer, though, that this team is not as concerned with the authentic details. There's plenty of Flash type animation going on. It has that clean, created in the computer look that MDHR strictly avoided. Instantly gives it the modern-day-take-on-the-classics look rather than the real thing (although adding in scratchy film grain would have pushed it too far into rip-off territory, but that also makes it look more clean and modern) So this will kind of be the TerryToons to Cuphead's Disney/Warners.
I wasn’t too seriously thinking about adding a Lite into the mix anyway, but this is enough to prove it would be a bad fit. If I did it would be to use the Lite as an easier, sturdier portable option while the original remained the main system. I don’t like the idea of potentially hobbling my home system by having it require a steady online connection. I don’t trust my service enough for that. And of course a portable that requires a connection is no longer quite as portable as one would like.
The majority of my library is now digital as well, so that’s an issue. Of course DLC means many titles, even if you have the carts, aren’t fully able to go from one system to another. Got Smash physically? Ok, let’s pop it in and play as Banjo Kazooie and whoops, not there, huh? And how about Spyro on cart? Anything short of a setup where both consoles have full offline access to each game you’ve bought, whether physical or digital, is more hassle than it’s worth.
A user account should just allow for a user to have a regular Switch and a Lite that can both house any games and DLC purchased. If they can’t make that work while they still protect against unlawful sharing, then they’ll just have to do without sales of the Lite to people who want to use them this way.
It’s fine, though. Just what I needed to dampen the temptation of blowing $200 on one.
I haven't looked at it in handheld yet, but it looks fine in TV mode. The only slowdown I've seen is just after jumping on the "Return Home" pad, as it tallies up the gems. Otherwise it plays well, and looks just a little soft, but not in a particularly bad way. A little softness can actually help some games look less sharply digital and more film-like.
As someone who used to prefer having the actual cart or disc of a game, I've gotten pretty used to the download approach. I like having a well rounded roster of titles always on tap, and I certainly don't mind skipping the trip to Gamestop, with all the "looking for anything in particular?" and "Do you want to get the extended warranty coverage?" questions. Still, this kind of "physical release" makes a lot less sense. It's one thing to get the basic full game and then add on some optional extra content via downloads, but a cart that only houses a non-functioning shell of a game until the rest of it is added to the primary console?
I guess if someone wanted to have both a regular Switch and a Switch Lite, carts like this one wouldn't be much use.
Another thing I'd like to see is a way to have better control over the timing of certain things. Prime example would be making a small circle of track, then putting a lift platform on either side. Most of the time when you reach it during gameplay, the lifts get clustered together when they were meant to stay equal distance apart.
I figure it usually doesn't work because they don't start moving until they scroll onscreen, but it throws off the intended function when one lift is closely trailing the other instead of staying on the opposite side.
If they just gave us the rotating multi platforms that were in SMW we wouldn't need to build these malfunctioning bootleg ones to begin with.
There sure is a lot of demand for a world map creator, but it just seems like one of the more unlikely additions they would make. They've positioned it so much toward single courses that I can't quite see how they would implement it. Those of us who don't have a YouTube/Twitch following can barely get our single levels played, who's going to jump on whole world maps?
I haven't even seen anyone bring up how they eliminated the "world" play function in the coursebot. In MM1, you could play through each row of 4 courses, in a SMB 1 way, as if they were a world. You could use it with either your own levels or anything you downloaded, but there's no way to share on the incredibly slim chance anyone would actually play it.
I'm mainly hoping the updates and additions are all in the area of more course elements and themes. It's kind of ridiculous that they added slopes but not a single thing that rolls down them. C'mon, it's the very first obstacle that Mario ever encountered, and there's nothing like rolling barrels in the whole roster. There's a few enemies that work in ways none of the current ones do, that would be very useful in building obstacles. And I keep wondering if there are specific reasons they can't have moving sub-walls like the ones that pop up many times in SMW in castles and caves.
I know they want to keep the editor approachable for a wide user base, so they can't go overly deep with complex elements, but there's still a lot of simple things left out of the mix despite them bringing in never-before seen things like claws.
It may be a mode a lot of people wouldn’t even try, but if you do the endless challenge on “easy”, you sure get a lot of simple, unfocused courses that do very little before the goal pole just pops in and you sit there thinking, “that was it?” You can’t lose many lives on them and it really does feel like it’ll be endless. Especially since you save your place and pick up where you left off. I’m up to 40 lives and no end in sight.
As pointless as some of the levels are, I have no interest in leaving any critical comments, as much as I might have them. If someone was proud enough to play test and upload it, I see no purpose in calling them on it and making them feel bad. I just play it, shrug, and move on.
Since I never see my own levels listed and you don’t make the call on what difficulty level your courses are assigned, I don’t even know what mine are given. I’d guess mine might show up in the normal mode, but I have no way to find out. I don’t make courses I’d consider super expert, but not pushovers, either. I try to make them feel like Nintendo courses, or at least the aspects I enjoy in them. But since I have to beat it to post it, I don’t make many that get tough for me to clear check.
I also don’t promote my levels much, and don’t post a lot of level IDs when I make comments because there’s already so many in every thread that no one could get to all of them. The Maker ID is QPH-6RK-B9G if anyone’s interested, though.
And just over half of those courses feature plenty of pipes just floating in mid-air.
Really, it's not surprising it's that high at all. That would be 2 courses for every user. Although you would have to figure some people are going to resist paying for the online, and there must be many who don't bother much with the creation side. In fact, many of the YouTube players posting regular playthrough videos clearly state that they don't get into creating. So not everyone who bought a copy is contributing to that number. I'm responsible for 11 of those 4 million courses so far. Some people even seem to be finding them. I've never seen my own on the lists but I still can't tell if it's designed to screen out a player's own levels.
Don't forget Mario World. It's got a lot of elements unique to it that are carried over in MM2, like being able to throw shells upward, using the cape, and the unique way basic blocks behave that was only used in that game.
With a few exceptions, there's really no level that can be recreated exactly as it is in the original. If not because of missing enemy types or gizmos, just the theme itself isn't represented or is missing elements. This is fine, since making exact copies of classic levels really isn't the point, anyway.
Mario Maker 2, if anything, creates an even bigger divide between itself and the games it incorporates. By adding some tools none of these titles had, like the swinging claws and on/off blocks, it's really encouraging players to make new course mechanics and do things the old games never did.
The original games, especially SMW and NSMBU, have a lot of larger scale gizmos, like moving walls, sinking floors and giant spinning gears that would probably get too complex in put into the MM editor. And they all have plenty of enemy types that didn't make the cut, many that could have worked easily enough.
Still, as this article says, going back and "studying the classics" is a good way to get acquainted with building a level. It will at least point out that Nintendo doesn't just constantly have pipe pieces hanging in mid-air (c'mon people, connect them to something and stop posting all these half finished looking courses)
I like (oops, can I use that word here?) how people get angry about there being consequences for playing around with glitches. There's always going to be those who need to test the outer limits of things, and get the most fun out of pulling off things they're not supposed to be able to. But let's not vilify Nintendo for trying to keep their product in line with it's intended functionality. If you must experiment with glitches, expect the possibility of it getting "policed".
I know the toolset in the game has many limits. There are tons of things the official Mario games do that can't be done in either Maker. But that doesn't mean people are free to look for any way they can to make the game do things it's not designed to do. There's still enough in there to do a ton of things it's meant to do. If it's only fun for some people to exploit glitches, then they can also have the fun of being called on it.
@Burning_Spear I was just going to add a post saying the exact same thing. Makes sense to give people a reason to be a little more selective about what they post while they’re just getting started and more likely to be proud of the kind of levels that make a creator wonder what they were thinking when they made it. I have a couple early ones I posted with MM1 that I wanted to replace, but then I’d get a notification that someone just starred it so I’d feel like I should leave it there, even though I’d rather have used the slot for a later, more polished level.
Of course, there are plenty of “My First Level” courses up in MM2 already, but there’d be even more if people saw they had 64 slots on day one.
I have to say I like this system better than the old one, where I never got more than 20. I wish the limit would stop people from uploading half finished piffle (enough with the pipes floating in mid-air, attach them to something), but I also realize there are kids posting levels so I try to never directly criticize (no boos from me).
I'm still hoping there are different reasons for deleting levels than before. I've never uploaded anything inappropriate, but had several MM1 levels deleted simply over low plays/clear rates. Geez, let people find it before bouncing it off the server!
This doesn't really say what the aim of the lawsuit is. Such class action suits are usually because people are suffering losses or injuries. Are they suing because people lost some coins when Mario went pitching off the edge of the stage on the Darker Side course?
More seriously, I guess the aim is a major recall/free repair deal? Unfortunately, while moving parts in electronics get smaller and more delicate, while also being designed as more portable, dirt and grit stays the same size. So the impact of it getting in the works gets bigger. I don't tote the Switch around much, so I almost never use mine. I actually did have the issue with Odyssey I mentioned, and I haven't really used them since.
@Tandy255 Nice job. Some good choices there. I think you got the classic first level better than mine. I hadn’t thought of using spinies to act as the barrels, it just pointed out that they could use an object that rolls, especially now that there’s slopes. I already knew I wouldn’t be the only one to try a DK level. The addition of slopes, scroll stop, and vertical areas is what made it more tempting to try than in MM1.
That D-pad positions this as the perfect version of the personal portable Switch. Maybe you can put a 3rd party joy con on but this one’s built from the ground up for a single player.
I’m still happier at the moment that all they’re doing is a “Lite” model that doesn’t out-do the original in any way. I get why so many would prefer a “pro” version, but I’m tired of every piece of tech being outmoded too quickly. It’s like getting a new phone. When can you safely jump in and get something that you won’t feel left behind with when the beefed up version comes out so fast? If they’re always talking about the next iteration in development why not wait for that, and so on. Games systems used to last at least 5 years before the next generation, but now we need souping up in between, too? How much money are we supposed to have to keep up with the hardware and still afford the odd game or two?
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Re: Cuphead's 'Delicious Last Course' DLC Will Arrive 'When It's Ready'
The thing is, it’s not as hard as it’s reputation. A lot of it requires study and learning patterns. It would be a really short game if it was made any easier. What you’re getting isn’t just a romp to blast through in one sitting. You’re meant to spend a little time with each new boss learning it’s moves, and which weapons to equip. Then go back and try to improve the score. Like games used to be about.
The original Donkey Kong was just 4 single screen challenges to repeat, yet they made a movie about marathon players grinding away at it. Cuphead gets it’s mileage out of giving you a reason to spend plenty of time on challenges you’re meant to do in less than 2 minutes each.
Of course, if you’re trying to get the black & white filter, now we’re talking hard. Doing all the run and gun levels without the gun part gets pretty difficult.
Re: Cuphead's 'Delicious Last Course' DLC Will Arrive 'When It's Ready'
Ok, now we have the official word. And it’s maybe the least exciting item on the list, except for people who only have PS4. And the Netflix show looks a bit better than I was expecting, but I knew they wouldn’t be able to control themselves and make a show that continued to look as authentically 1930s as the game does. They just can’t resist more modern pacing and framing. It’s good that it won’t look just like a Flash cartoon, but it still looks more 2020 than 1930.
No mention of why the official site is saying “available now” about something they still can’t even commit to a release date on. At least we got to try a brief moment to see what it might feel like to find out the DLC is live, but it’s not as much fun when it’s quickly followed by the disappointment of a big ol’ shrug for when to really expect it.
So now the question is - delayed until 2021, or 2022?
Re: Cuphead's 'Delicious Last Course' DLC Might Be Arriving Very Soon
Well, thanks for getting my hopes up through a long system update, but I don’t see any sign of the DLC being available for the Xbox version. Sure, there’s a pulsing “click here” announcement if you go to the game’s page, and if you click on it, you get the same trailer we had last year.
So what’s changed to make someone think anything new has happened? I even had a 30 mb “update” that supposedly applied itself when I tried to launch the game, then up comes the same game I’ve had since the Mugman update.
Please update this article to prevent others from thinking the DLC went live only to find the only game to play is still the waiting game. I appreciate the work they put in to make this game as good as it is, but after it took them 3 years longer than expected to make it, why would we expect the extra material to not go through the same excruciatingly slow development?
Re: Watch: Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase July 2020
Odd. I saw plenty of YouTube videos posted over the weekend by people that were sure there would be announcements of the Mario remasters today, yet no one here has even brought them up.
I guess all those Mario posters are just too disappointed to even comment yet.
Re: Donkey Kong Country Swings Onto The Switch Online SNES Service Next Week
All well and good, maybe DKC should have been there already, but the other titles sort of point out the eventual problem with third party games. Sure, when they first come out, they bolster the lineup with a variety of games you wouldn’t usually get from NIntendo, but the best ones become important titles to owners of that system. But fast forward to the future, where they can put a virtual version of the system in their current console, and those third party titles that were once so important can’t make their way back as easily. I can think of a lot of titles I’d rather see than “Natsume Championship Wrestling”, but that’s what they can get their hands on.
I think we know by now we’ll see Super Mario World and Link To The Past every time they bring out the old titles for a new console, but there sure are a lot of other games we plugged into a SNES in ‘93 they we’ll never see make a comeback. Even NIntendo can’t put out ALL of their old titles these days (Popeye, anyone?), so we’ll never see any “virtual console” setup giving us everything we’d want.
Re: Review: Namco Museum Archives Vol 1 - A Great Way To Rediscover Namco's Classic NES Titles
There's certainly plenty to choose from if you're looking for retro titles. The main issue might be a matter of preference in what type of retro you want, and a bit of frustration in what gets repeated and what gets skipped. Want the classic Pac-Man? Take your pick, it's going to be in every one of them in some form. You just need to choose between arcade or NES versions. Other titles may only appear in one form or the other.
Or, if you're like me and want to play the true classic arcade version of Nintendo's "Popeye", you have a choice between time-traveling to 1982 or tough luck.
Re: Super Mario 64 PC Port Shows The Game Running At 4K And With Ultra Widescreen Support
I guess there’s some value for anyone just looking to play it that doesn’t have an official NIntendo platform to play it on. It’s a little interesting seeing the sharper image, but in a world where Odyssey exists, or even 3D World, seeing 25 year old polygons all spruced up is a bit less than eye candy. If NIntendo chose to go all in and rebuild the graphics to current standards I’d be up for the ride, but it’s hard to get too excited over a 4K version of a round pipe made of straight edges. The gameplay is classic and timeless, but unless NIntendo gives it a proper makeover, I’m afraid SM64 is too quaintly ugly to go hi def.
Re: Community: Tried Super Mario Maker 2's World Maker Yet? Share Your Codes Here
This article may be too old now to still comment on, but there’s a question I’ve had ever since SMM2 came out that I’ve never seen answered anywhere - What is the difference between the footprints on the course info screen and the number that appears in the clear rate? The latter is always a higher number. As an example, one of my courses shows a clear rate of 2 out of 37, but the footprints is 11. So which one is the number of plays? I assume it’s saying only two out of 37 plays were cleared, but then what is the 11?
Does it mean that 11 different players tried a total of 37 times and it only resulted in 2 clears? I went through all the info screens in the play guide, but it’s never clearly said what these mean. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a “boo!”, since that has its own icon. (I’ve never given a boo, either. If you can’t say something nice, etc...). I take the footprints to represent “foot traffic”, rather than saying that amount of people “walked out” on the course instead of finishing. But why is there a higher number in the clear rate? I realize it would feel out of place to have an exhaustive list of stats so they go with little icons and simplified accounting, but it should at least be clear what all of these numbers mean.
Either way, I know I’m one of those creators that can’t really break through to higher numbers and get on any of the “hot” or “popular” lists, but I can never really tell just how many people tried a given course. It does seem like each upload gets a little attention the day it goes up, so they must appear on the “New Courses” list at least until they’re pushed out by newer ones.
And I’ve never seen one of my own on any list. Is that even possible, or does the game filter your own courses out when you search? That’s another question I’ve never seen anyone ever answer.
Re: Community: Tried Super Mario Maker 2's World Maker Yet? Share Your Codes Here
Not surprisingly, I notice I've been getting "___ played your level" notifications about the first couple levels I put in my world. I don't see them continue too far in with the same player names, though, so I guess they're trying a couple levels and then bailing on it. So that's something to consider when building a world, you need something to hook them quick or they'll move on. So don't try to start slow and build to your best stuff in world 7, or they'll never see it.
It's to be expected, though. It's one thing to post single courses and hope people will find it and have the patience to see it through, but to have a whole game's worth when players know there's so much more to choose from? Imagine if MM2 didn't exist and Nintendo put out a new Mario side scroller title. You'd get it and probably play all the way through. Ok, now imagine if they put out a couple MILLION new Mario games all at once. Gonna play 'em all? That's the drawback to Mario Maker in general, you'll likely NEVER play everything that's there, just the ones you get codes for from either friends or recommendations, or random ones from the lists that are like a Mario lottery system.
So, consider yourself a pretty good designer if you get someone to stick around and finish your world, but don't feel like a failure if they only sample the first few, because there's too much temptation to see what else is out there, because there will ALWAYS be a ton more waiting for you no matter how much you play (ok, maybe half are auto-play levels or speed runs, but still).
Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's some "Ultra-Completionist" out there attempting to finish ALL of MM2. What to you think the total speed run time on THAT would be?
Re: Community: Tried Super Mario Maker 2's World Maker Yet? Share Your Codes Here
Really, the lives don't matter or carry over? I thought I saw that they did. Then why can you set how many to start with, to give a total amount up front?
Anyway, I just went the way of stringing along the levels I had already posted into worlds. I tried to make them relate to the themes as much as possible, but they weren't made with that in mind. I tried to concentrate on the SMW levels at the start, to try to give it that feel, but the other themes start kicking in for the later worlds. I usually aim for a medium difficulty level, with some areas requiring thought or skill but nothing too hardcore precise. What I don't do is all the specific "Mario Maker" type things- auto run, trolling, floating pipes and pits filled with enemies and stars. I try to make ones as if I'm on the Nintendo team, with a little license to put my own ideas in, and make levels that have plenty of ways to fail but never make it nearly impossible to succeed.
I'd like to find out how the whole one-at-a-time thing works, though. Can you post a world, then work on a better version of it that uses a lot of the same levels then replace it with your "new and improved" world? I could almost see Nintendo imposing a restriction that you can't use the same course twice. Not really sure why we needed a restriction like this in the first place. Is it just to keep the initial wave down and then they'll expand it the way they went from 32 to 64 to 100 course uploads? You can't really say there would be too many worlds to store if you can have the same amount of levels posted as single courses. It's just a filing system for grouping the access codes that gets attached to your profile. If the limit is 100 courses, You should be able to post at least two worlds of forty and still have twenty left. I hope they at least lift it to two after a while.
If interested, my maker code is QPH-6RK-B9G, And my current world is 7 worlds/34 levels. I'll work on some more individual courses and upload a revised world in a while if it works that way.
Re: Super Mario Maker 2's Final Major Update Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@Euler As a playable variation, maybe so, but try letting a couple baseballs hit the toad house in the new mini game. It may attract some attention...
Re: Super Mario Maker 2's Final Major Update Is Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
That’s promising. I’m only just starting to poke around in world maker, but right off the bat it certainly looks like it will change how some courses are made, or at least provide some much needed stakes to doling out 1ups. Like any regular Mario game, you start with a supply (that defaults to 30, a bit high compared to the usual), and losing lives actually has consequences. The only way it mattered before if you put 1ups in your levels is if it turned up while playing endless. And even then it didn’t matter if you put in more than 3. Now you can give players the feeling of getting something valuable by placing some, even more so if you make it a little challenging to grab it.
It’s not too surprising that there’s a limitation of one world at a time. Doesn’t seem like they really needed to impose that but I guess they have their reasons. They don’t really say if you can use levels that are already uploaded individually, though. It would be a bit annoying to have to choose between posting a level on its own or saving it to put into your world. And being able to download other people’s worlds would be helpful, too.
It kind of makes it feel the most authentic if you only use Super Mario World themed levels in a world, since there only seems to be one style to the world maps and it most closely resembles that game’s maps. I guess you can mix and match styles but you’ll always come back to a SMW feeling world map. And it also seems limited to 5 levels per world. The last one has to play to part of the “castle” level, though it doesn’t have to be a castle themed one. You can have less, but you can’t load up a world with a dozen levels in it.
Also, it might have been helpful to increase the amount of doors you can put in a level. Not that we’d want to see a ton of people do the same thing, but you can’t have a gauntlet level where you take on each Koopaling, at least not without having some fights be skippable. You need to be able to give them a key that opens your path to keep up incentive, so a limit of 4 key doors doesn’t support 7 battles. It’s not a big deal, though, because as I said we don’t want to see everyone posting the same boss parade levels. How else can we make beating them have an impact on finishing the level, though?
Still, there are some great additions here that really beef up the “make your own Mario game” experience.
Re: Super Mario Maker 2's Final Major Update Arrives April 22nd, Adds World Maker Mode, Frog Suit, And Koopalings
@Euler Yes, it looks like it's been changed from the way it worked in SMW. It didn't turn before, it just floated to the side staying upright. Seems like you may be able to get more steering control now.
Re: Super Mario Maker 2's Final Major Update Arrives April 22nd, Adds World Maker Mode, Frog Suit, And Koopalings
@brunojenso
It looks like it's limited to 8 worlds/ 40 levels, so not quite what you were hoping. But still not bad considering we had no idea they would add a world builder at this point.
I'm wondering if we can use levels we've already uploaded on their own as part of our "worlds", or if they have to be new levels you're just adding.
They sure picked a good time to beef up the tools, with so many more people at home looking for things to keep busy with. I'd expect a flood of new levels (and worlds) will start tomorrow.
Re: Nintendo To Remaster 'Most Of Super Mario’s 35-Year Catalogue' For Switch in 2020, New Report Says
The other thing I'd like to know is what form these will take. Obviously most will vote for physical carts, which I can't imagine they wouldn't do, but what if they're only planning on making them available via Nintendo online the way the NES/SNES games are? Let's just hope they're not thinking about disappointing us with that.
Re: Nintendo To Remaster 'Most Of Super Mario’s 35-Year Catalogue' For Switch in 2020, New Report Says
Yeah, "remaster" is a pretty loose term here. And we already have a way to access the main NES/SNES titles.
I sure hope it's not just so they can add that damn drop shadow they put in Mario Maker...
Re: Video: PS4's Dreams Is Being Flooded With Awesome Super Mario Games
Seems like Nintendo would have a bigger problem with "Super Mario Universe", which seems like more of a Mario Maker-like PC program and more directly competitive with MM. In that case the software is intentionally providing a Mario experience, rather than the "whatever you can dream up" experience Dreams aims for. It's just that many people can only dream up things involving their favorite copyrighted characters.
In a way, people putting out Mario levels in Dreams is more akin to people discussing Mario in a forum, or sending fan art to Nintendo Power back in the day. rather than all the ROM hack level editors and Kaizo levels not made in MM. Nobody's selling their levels, they're just sharing their homages.
But I can see how having dozens of "levels" of Mario just woo-hooing around in empty Peach Castles with floaty controls and misshapen faces could be perceived as infringing in some way.
I just set up a scene in Dreams this weekend dropping in a Mario, 3 different block types, a Goomba, a Koopa, coin, and mushrooms. You can then take those elements and place them throughout your scene. It gives you an idea how tricky it would be for Nintendo to attempt a Mario Maker for 3D, although I'd guess it would be a bit easier to base it on 3D World rather than SM64. And Galaxy would be much harder. If people stick to original ideas, Dreams will have more unique and interesting experiences, but it will be harder to get those noticed without the familiar names and faces to attract the browsers.
Re: Sakurai Knows Smash Bros. Has Too Many Fire Emblem Characters, But It's Nintendo's Fault
It's not necessarily "dead" franchises, it's more about "classic" and "nostalgic" ones as well. Characters like Game & Watch, Duck Hunt and R.O.B. aren't exactly promoting anything new.
The problem with all the Fire Emblem characters is that if you don't follow the games, they all seem too much alike, since they're all in standard Anime style to begin with. Meanwhile Mario, Yoshi, and Peach are all from the same series, but they're at least distinctly different characters and do very different things. All the sword swingers seem very similar, grunting and yelling out their attack phrase while their weapon fires blasts of light. Are they all somehow more unique from each other if you're more invested in their respective games?
7 characters from one game is a bit excessive even if they weren't all nearly the same. It's about time for another Sonic character. Eggman would do nicely, and Knuckles or Tails would as well. Dig Dug, Q-bert, Earthworm Jim, even Stanley the Bugman. Toss a dang Clayfighter in there. Hell, I'd even welcome Bubsy if he's not weilding a thunder sword. Just let's give the Anime warriors a little rest and not dominate the next wave.
Re: Nintendo Says It's Focused On "Initiatives" To Keep Consumers Playing
It's not a bad thing that they want to add in some new elements to bring players back to those games. You would actually think they might want to focus on creating new titles and having players ready to move on into them, rather than luring them back to something they already own. It's more of a goodwill gesture for them to stuff a little more value into games after they already made the sale. Particularly when they add it in free, like Mario Maker and much of the Splatoon stuff. Can you imagine if a dealership you bought a car from last year offered to put in a few more features for next to nothing?
I hope they have a couple more additions to drop into Mario Maker before they're done. It's a little disappointing the game didn't make top 10 chart status, so anything that keeps interest going and keeps it in the race is helpful. Plus it's natural case for additions, since there are still a ton of things it's missing from the games it emulates. How hard would it be to incorporate Fuzzies, after all?
Re: Talking Point: How Much Is Your Video Game Collection Really Worth To You?
I don’t quite have the time to sort through and research them all, but I’ve still got pretty much everything I’ve ever acquired game-wise. I started in the SNES era but I did get the later edition NES and a few older games for it. From there I added a Genesis (with CD and 32x), Gameboy, Saturn, two Virtual Boys, PlayStation, N64, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, GameCube, Gameboy Advance (original and sp), DS lite, PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U (Wind Waker edition and Mario Maker edition), PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and a Switch. Along with those, a decent amount of games for each, despite missing some popular genres like sports games and FPS and RPG titles. Can’t help be a little curious how much all that could sell for.
Problem is, I’ve never been the type to want to dispose of things I collect, even if I know quite well I’m unlikely to actually use them. Time moves on, and it gets pretty hard to imagine feeling the need to plug a copy of Mario World into my old SNES, especially since it’s right there on the Switch, anyway.
I’m certain I wouldn’t get a fortune for all I’ve got. Not much is mint but everything is still in the full boxes and cases. Finding anyone who would want it all is unlikely, and selling it off piecemeal would be too much fuss. Lucky for me I have no intention to let of it go just now, but I also don’t have a lot of storage space anymore.
Re: Nintendo Will Stop Repairing Wii Consoles In Japan This March
Also keeping in mind that every Wii U basically contains a Wii in it. Really the only reason Wii Us came with that sensor bar in the box.
Wiimotes were still sold well into the Wii U era, too. Perhaps the main thing that will run out of supply is the Nunchuck, so you may have trouble playing Mario Galaxy on a Wii U without one of those.
Re: Rumour: Crash Bandicoot Is Smash Ultimate DLC Fighter 6, According To Byleth Leaker
That would be a good choice, and we could certainly use another cartoon mascot type character to help balance out the variety. I figure with another 6 slots to fill, at least three will be spiky haired anime characters with giant cyber swords, so it'll be a welcome addition.
I just wonder what his moves will be apart from a spin. With a key move of a jump-on-head attack, they'll need something else to flesh him out.
Re: Cuphead Dev Thanks Sakurai And Nintendo For The "Unbelievable Opportunity"
This was done just right, even if it doesn't match up with the other Mii costumes. I can picture what it might have been if they had an opening on the front of the cup with a Mii face in it. And it looks like it at least fires blue shots. If he was a full fledged character you would hope he'd get all his different shot types, but this is fine.
Hard to picture what a Cuphead stage would be. A 3D environment wouldn't match up to the game's look, since that is based on vintage cartoons. Maybe painted 2.5D elements at different depths?
Re: Nintendo Will Now Let You Upload 100 Courses In Super Mario Maker 2
How about the limit of courses you can create and save? It's still capped at 120, so now you can upload nearly every course you make. I don't really get why there is a limit to this. Shouldn't the only limit be space on your memory card? I don't think I'll ever come close to filling the spaces reserved for downloaded courses, but you can't use those slots for more of your own.
Re: Random: Reggie Probably Had A Bigger SNES Collection Than Most Nintendo Fans
I’m pretty sure I had at least that many. The SNES was the first system I had. I was just out of my teens when Donkey Kong first hit arcades and spent plenty of time at Pac-Man, Popeye, and Qbert units, and even though I was aware of the NES I didn’t have the budget for it at the time. I got the SNES in late 93 when there was already a big backlog of titles and wound up piling up plenty of used and sale bin titles. So my collection includes plenty of things like James Pond and Rocky Rodent, yet almost no sports titles.
I’ve gotten every major system since then. All in all, I’d say the quantity of titles for each system has decreased incrementally until the Wii U and Switch, so I’m sure my SNES library is the largest. They’ve been packed up in a closet for years, but I still have them all.
Re: Studio Behind Sonic Movie's Redesign Has Reportedly Been Shut Down
@Priceless_Spork
It's just a phrase more common in the UK that basically means the same as "went over quite well".
So, how are things at the studio that created the original Eddie Munster Sonic design? They're still up and running and creating more nightmares?
Re: SuperMash Smashes Together Different Genres For A New Experience Every Time
It's likely that every possible combination already has fully set results. Much like every character in Smash has to be set up to to receive every possible attack, they probably already defined the degree of mashing up between each pairing.
What's completely left unanswered for now is what any of it will look like. An interesting idea could be hampered a bit if it doesn't have a decent art style, and for this to really shine it would need a few distinct decent art styles that could mix in interesting ways.
Re: Super Mario Maker 2 Version 2.0 Full Patch Notes - Link's Master Sword, Ninji Speedrun And More
@KoekiieWoekiie
I really hope they do put it out, but there are two points that still leave room for doubt- First is just how long it's taken. Why sit on such a first-rate title while porting so many others unless there's an issue with it. Second is what the issue is: the GamePad implementation. Since they were still trying at that stage to make the GamePad a selling point, the use of it is peppered throughout the game. There are at least 3 levels that would be unplayable without it, not to mention all the Captain Toad levels. I really wouldn't want to see a solution like what they did to make the full Captain Toad game work on Switch, by adding an annoying blue spark that's always on screen, but the only other solution is to make those levels handheld only, or lose them altogether. I play the majority of the time with the Wii U Pro Controller, but those few levels can't even be entered while using it.
It would be great to have this game get a longer lifespan and to have it in the Switch library. And to allow many who never had access see how it's such a perfect mix of 2D and 3D Mario mechanics, but I worry that those few levels are a problem for porting it. Maybe we'll see it someday, though.
Re: Random: So, You Probably Don't Want To Put Your Nintendo Switch On A Radiator
On the plus side, he shouldn't have to worry about that Switch overheating anymore. It's got plenty of ventilation now...
Re: Smash Ultimate Players Rebel Against Sakurai's Comments And Put Fatal Fury's Mai Into The Game
@PickledKong64 I see. I’m actually not familiar with the character or how she’s used, it just seemed like they were suggesting any kind of sexual connotation was something they wanted to avoid.
Then again, even one of Peach’s attacks is to dive at the opponent butt first, which might be a battle a lot of the young male players would like to have.
Re: Smash Ultimate Players Rebel Against Sakurai's Comments And Put Fatal Fury's Mai Into The Game
Well, if there's an intention to steer clear of characters with an adult theme associated with them, how did Bayonetta make the cut? Sexual connotations galore, along with extreme violence and adult language. Better fit somehow?
Re: Gallery: Sonic Movie Trailer Comparison Pics - Check Out Before And After Sonic's Redesign
Well, with the Sonic design being pretty well fixed, maybe we can turn our attention to how much Robotnik was softened to just end up as Jim Carrey with a Snydley Whiplash moustache. Yes, I know we had that quick shot where he's bald and the moustache was wilder, but couldn't they have given him at least a little of the egg shaped body as well? It also seems like he's flailing and dancing a bit too much for the character. Not sure he needs to be a full-on "zany" villian. Let's wait and see, though.
Re: Poll: Luigi's Mansion 3 Is Out Today, Are You Getting It?
I've been waiting to see what the file size is, but it seems this is one of those titles this site isn't interested that info on. Some games get their own article link just about the file size, but others you have to wait until you can go check on the eShop. Why not add it into to game info at the top of the page?
Re: Reggie Calls Wii U A "Failure Forward" Because It Led To Switch
There's no arguing that it was a commercial failure in the end, which is more a matter of timing than quality. As a piece of hardware, it was basically their best console to date during its era. It brought Nintendo games into HD, and was able to pretty much handle everything their previous consoles could, including having their most successful console basically built into it.
On paper, that sounds pretty solid. But the marketing was handled terribly, from the poorly thought out name to the lack of proper promotion, and the competition just squeezed it out of the running.
Re: Magical 2D Platformer Enchanted Portals Accused Of Being A Cuphead Clone
The thing I don't quite get yet is the time frame for this. It's a Kickstarter project, but they have a date of October 24th. How is it both seeking funding and slated for release it 14 days? Cuphead spent years in development limbo, even with the direct sponsorship of Microsoft, but this pops out of nowhere ready to rock in two weeks?
Re: Magical 2D Platformer Enchanted Portals Accused Of Being A Cuphead Clone
It's not just games, of course. This is the pattern that takes place in every kind of entertainment product. Movies, TV, music, comics, etc. These fields are mostly putting out variations on what has already succeeded (because the companies bankrolling the projects are looking to chase proven formulas), but every now and then something a bit more unique breaks through and gets attention. Then it sparks its own imitators that were either inspired by its style or are looking to repeat its success.
Cuphead wasn't likely to cause as much of a wave of imitators as Super Mario Bros or Super Mario 64 did, but it looks like it's getting at least one very direct one. It doesn't mean it'll be bad, it just means it's roots are showing.
Re: Enchanted Portals Is A Cuphead-Style Co-Op Game Eyeing Up A Release On Switch
Yeah, it's hard to not see the direct emulation of Cuphead, but any successful game has to contend with the "inspired by" titles that come out on their heels.
I saw within seconds of the trailer, though, that this team is not as concerned with the authentic details. There's plenty of Flash type animation going on. It has that clean, created in the computer look that MDHR strictly avoided. Instantly gives it the modern-day-take-on-the-classics look rather than the real thing (although adding in scratchy film grain would have pushed it too far into rip-off territory, but that also makes it look more clean and modern) So this will kind of be the TerryToons to Cuphead's Disney/Warners.
Seems like it could be worth a look, though.
Re: Guide: How To Share Games And Saves Across A Nintendo Switch And Switch Lite
I wasn’t too seriously thinking about adding a Lite into the mix anyway, but this is enough to prove it would be a bad fit. If I did it would be to use the Lite as an easier, sturdier portable option while the original remained the main system. I don’t like the idea of potentially hobbling my home system by having it require a steady online connection. I don’t trust my service enough for that. And of course a portable that requires a connection is no longer quite as portable as one would like.
The majority of my library is now digital as well, so that’s an issue. Of course DLC means many titles, even if you have the carts, aren’t fully able to go from one system to another. Got Smash physically? Ok, let’s pop it in and play as Banjo Kazooie and whoops, not there, huh? And how about Spyro on cart? Anything short of a setup where both consoles have full offline access to each game you’ve bought, whether physical or digital, is more hassle than it’s worth.
A user account should just allow for a user to have a regular Switch and a Lite that can both house any games and DLC purchased. If they can’t make that work while they still protect against unlawful sharing, then they’ll just have to do without sales of the Lite to people who want to use them this way.
It’s fine, though. Just what I needed to dampen the temptation of blowing $200 on one.
Re: Review: Spyro Reignited Trilogy - A Blast From The Past That's Still Got Wings
I haven't looked at it in handheld yet, but it looks fine in TV mode. The only slowdown I've seen is just after jumping on the "Return Home" pad, as it tallies up the gems. Otherwise it plays well, and looks just a little soft, but not in a particularly bad way. A little softness can actually help some games look less sharply digital and more film-like.
As someone who used to prefer having the actual cart or disc of a game, I've gotten pretty used to the download approach. I like having a well rounded roster of titles always on tap, and I certainly don't mind skipping the trip to Gamestop, with all the "looking for anything in particular?" and "Do you want to get the extended warranty coverage?" questions. Still, this kind of "physical release" makes a lot less sense. It's one thing to get the basic full game and then add on some optional extra content via downloads, but a cart that only houses a non-functioning shell of a game until the rest of it is added to the primary console?
I guess if someone wanted to have both a regular Switch and a Switch Lite, carts like this one wouldn't be much use.
Re: Soapbox: To Me, Mario Maker 2 Is Nintendo's Best, And Most Disappointing, Sequel Ever
Another thing I'd like to see is a way to have better control over the timing of certain things. Prime example would be making a small circle of track, then putting a lift platform on either side. Most of the time when you reach it during gameplay, the lifts get clustered together when they were meant to stay equal distance apart.
I figure it usually doesn't work because they don't start moving until they scroll onscreen, but it throws off the intended function when one lift is closely trailing the other instead of staying on the opposite side.
If they just gave us the rotating multi platforms that were in SMW we wouldn't need to build these malfunctioning bootleg ones to begin with.
Re: Soapbox: To Me, Mario Maker 2 Is Nintendo's Best, And Most Disappointing, Sequel Ever
There sure is a lot of demand for a world map creator, but it just seems like one of the more unlikely additions they would make. They've positioned it so much toward single courses that I can't quite see how they would implement it. Those of us who don't have a YouTube/Twitch following can barely get our single levels played, who's going to jump on whole world maps?
I haven't even seen anyone bring up how they eliminated the "world" play function in the coursebot. In MM1, you could play through each row of 4 courses, in a SMB 1 way, as if they were a world. You could use it with either your own levels or anything you downloaded, but there's no way to share on the incredibly slim chance anyone would actually play it.
I'm mainly hoping the updates and additions are all in the area of more course elements and themes. It's kind of ridiculous that they added slopes but not a single thing that rolls down them. C'mon, it's the very first obstacle that Mario ever encountered, and there's nothing like rolling barrels in the whole roster. There's a few enemies that work in ways none of the current ones do, that would be very useful in building obstacles. And I keep wondering if there are specific reasons they can't have moving sub-walls like the ones that pop up many times in SMW in castles and caves.
I know they want to keep the editor approachable for a wide user base, so they can't go overly deep with complex elements, but there's still a lot of simple things left out of the mix despite them bringing in never-before seen things like claws.
Re: Super Mario Maker 2 Players Have Already Uploaded More Than 4 Million Courses
It may be a mode a lot of people wouldn’t even try, but if you do the endless challenge on “easy”, you sure get a lot of simple, unfocused courses that do very little before the goal pole just pops in and you sit there thinking, “that was it?” You can’t lose many lives on them and it really does feel like it’ll be endless. Especially since you save your place and pick up where you left off. I’m up to 40 lives and no end in sight.
As pointless as some of the levels are, I have no interest in leaving any critical comments, as much as I might have them. If someone was proud enough to play test and upload it, I see no purpose in calling them on it and making them feel bad. I just play it, shrug, and move on.
Since I never see my own levels listed and you don’t make the call on what difficulty level your courses are assigned, I don’t even know what mine are given. I’d guess mine might show up in the normal mode, but I have no way to find out. I don’t make courses I’d consider super expert, but not pushovers, either. I try to make them feel like Nintendo courses, or at least the aspects I enjoy in them. But since I have to beat it to post it, I don’t make many that get tough for me to clear check.
I also don’t promote my levels much, and don’t post a lot of level IDs when I make comments because there’s already so many in every thread that no one could get to all of them. The Maker ID is QPH-6RK-B9G if anyone’s interested, though.
Re: Super Mario Maker 2 Players Have Already Uploaded More Than 4 Million Courses
And just over half of those courses feature plenty of pipes just floating in mid-air.
Really, it's not surprising it's that high at all. That would be 2 courses for every user. Although you would have to figure some people are going to resist paying for the online, and there must be many who don't bother much with the creation side. In fact, many of the YouTube players posting regular playthrough videos clearly state that they don't get into creating. So not everyone who bought a copy is contributing to that number. I'm responsible for 11 of those 4 million courses so far. Some people even seem to be finding them. I've never seen my own on the lists but I still can't tell if it's designed to screen out a player's own levels.
Re: Guide: Check Out These Classic Levels For Inspiration In Super Mario Maker 2
Don't forget Mario World. It's got a lot of elements unique to it that are carried over in MM2, like being able to throw shells upward, using the cape, and the unique way basic blocks behave that was only used in that game.
With a few exceptions, there's really no level that can be recreated exactly as it is in the original. If not because of missing enemy types or gizmos, just the theme itself isn't represented or is missing elements. This is fine, since making exact copies of classic levels really isn't the point, anyway.
Mario Maker 2, if anything, creates an even bigger divide between itself and the games it incorporates. By adding some tools none of these titles had, like the swinging claws and on/off blocks, it's really encouraging players to make new course mechanics and do things the old games never did.
The original games, especially SMW and NSMBU, have a lot of larger scale gizmos, like moving walls, sinking floors and giant spinning gears that would probably get too complex in put into the MM editor. And they all have plenty of enemy types that didn't make the cut, many that could have worked easily enough.
Still, as this article says, going back and "studying the classics" is a good way to get acquainted with building a level. It will at least point out that Nintendo doesn't just constantly have pipe pieces hanging in mid-air (c'mon people, connect them to something and stop posting all these half finished looking courses)
Re: Super Mario Maker 2 Can Delete Your Glitched Courses, Even If You Don't Upload Them
I like (oops, can I use that word here?) how people get angry about there being consequences for playing around with glitches. There's always going to be those who need to test the outer limits of things, and get the most fun out of pulling off things they're not supposed to be able to. But let's not vilify Nintendo for trying to keep their product in line with it's intended functionality. If you must experiment with glitches, expect the possibility of it getting "policed".
I know the toolset in the game has many limits. There are tons of things the official Mario games do that can't be done in either Maker. But that doesn't mean people are free to look for any way they can to make the game do things it's not designed to do. There's still enough in there to do a ton of things it's meant to do. If it's only fun for some people to exploit glitches, then they can also have the fun of being called on it.
Re: Nintendo Will Now Let You Upload 64 Courses In Super Mario Maker 2
@Burning_Spear
I was just going to add a post saying the exact same thing. Makes sense to give people a reason to be a little more selective about what they post while they’re just getting started and more likely to be proud of the kind of levels that make a creator wonder what they were thinking when they made it. I have a couple early ones I posted with MM1 that I wanted to replace, but then I’d get a notification that someone just starred it so I’d feel like I should leave it there, even though I’d rather have used the slot for a later, more polished level.
Of course, there are plenty of “My First Level” courses up in MM2 already, but there’d be even more if people saw they had 64 slots on day one.
Re: Nintendo Will Now Let You Upload 64 Courses In Super Mario Maker 2
I have to say I like this system better than the old one, where I never got more than 20. I wish the limit would stop people from uploading half finished piffle (enough with the pipes floating in mid-air, attach them to something), but I also realize there are kids posting levels so I try to never directly criticize (no boos from me).
I'm still hoping there are different reasons for deleting levels than before. I've never uploaded anything inappropriate, but had several MM1 levels deleted simply over low plays/clear rates. Geez, let people find it before bouncing it off the server!
Re: US Law Firm Opens "Switch Joy-Con Drift" Class Action Investigation
This doesn't really say what the aim of the lawsuit is. Such class action suits are usually because people are suffering losses or injuries. Are they suing because people lost some coins when Mario went pitching off the edge of the stage on the Darker Side course?
More seriously, I guess the aim is a major recall/free repair deal? Unfortunately, while moving parts in electronics get smaller and more delicate, while also being designed as more portable, dirt and grit stays the same size. So the impact of it getting in the works gets bigger. I don't tote the Switch around much, so I almost never use mine. I actually did have the issue with Odyssey I mentioned, and I haven't really used them since.
Re: Community: Share Your Super Mario Maker 2 Levels And Know-How Here
@Tandy255 Nice job. Some good choices there. I think you got the classic first level better than mine. I hadn’t thought of using spinies to act as the barrels, it just pointed out that they could use an object that rolls, especially now that there’s slopes. I already knew I wouldn’t be the only one to try a DK level. The addition of slopes, scroll stop, and vertical areas is what made it more tempting to try than in MM1.
Re: Soapbox: The Nintendo Switch Lite Has The One Thing I've Been Waiting For All This Time
That D-pad positions this as the perfect version of the personal portable Switch. Maybe you can put a 3rd party joy con on but this one’s built from the ground up for a single player.
I’m still happier at the moment that all they’re doing is a “Lite” model that doesn’t out-do the original in any way. I get why so many would prefer a “pro” version, but I’m tired of every piece of tech being outmoded too quickly. It’s like getting a new phone. When can you safely jump in and get something that you won’t feel left behind with when the beefed up version comes out so fast? If they’re always talking about the next iteration in development why not wait for that, and so on. Games systems used to last at least 5 years before the next generation, but now we need souping up in between, too? How much money are we supposed to have to keep up with the hardware and still afford the odd game or two?