Not_Soos

I'm not personally that interested in the Tony Hawk games, but if true, this gives me hope that other canned ActiVision titles will see the light of day under Microsoft rather than entire IP laying dormant for decades. I really just want more Crash and Spyro. I would pay good money just for simple ports of Twinsanity and Wrath of Cortex to hold me over while we wait for the next thing. I never actually finished Twinsanity.

Also, give me an Atari collection like ActiVision Classics on the PS1, with Kaboom and Plaque Attack and all those other games.

I said in the Best Mario Sports Games article that putting Mario Golf World Tour so far beneath Toadstool Tour was criminal, and now you're doing it again just to trigger me.

Ah yes, my favorite acronym: "NOT."

Surprised the discontinue date isn't March 31st.

This sucks, though, so I hope they are actually working on a replacement system and not just getting more stingy ahead of the new console launch. Wii U to Switch was quite a stark contrast in terms of how expensive Nintendo priced their accessories. That's not a trend I want to see continue.

@Samalik

I don't disagree with anything you said, but Funko remains so popular despite me never seeing the appeal, I do think the game could have been a major financial success if handled properly. The game just didn't look particularly good--especially on Switch, where it was featured prominently in Directs. If they made something interesting using the IP and the broad appeal of Funko, I imagine a reality where it was successful enough to get multiple paid expansions bringing in new franchises. But it just looked very basic and uninspired, which I guess is how you and I both feel about the figurines, but for some reason the masses agreed with us when it came to the game.

I admittedly own two Funko's--Dexter from Dexter's Lab and Johnny Bravo--but only because their glasses mask the soulless, black Baymax eyes, so they actually look pretty normal. I generally prefer to buy figurines from Youtooz, which are admittedly still a bit more chibi and off-model than I would like, but still leagues better than Funko.

@Banjo- Yoshi's New Island is a game that gets far too much flack, imo. The music could be better, and the game doesn't really bring a whole lot new to the table outside of the uninspired giant egg mechanic. But it's still a solid enough Yoshi game with a good art style and really impressive 3D effects. It doesn't do anything to re-invent the wheel, but sometimes that's okay. Not every game needs a crazy new gimmick; more of the same can be comforting.

I also never finished Mario + Rabbids but need to someday. I picked up the sequel, but I feel like I should beat the first one before starting it--even though the second one looks way more interesting to me.

Miyamoto is the man of my dreams, too.

Outside of my channel, I've been playing Wario Land 4, which is a game I didn't grow up with, so it's basically a new Wario game to me. So far, I think the game is okay, but I went in with really high expectations, knowing how influential this game was on various indie platformers like Anton Blast and Pizza Tower.

I knew going in that the levels were designed to have you running back to the start under a time limit by taking alternate routes, but the level design doesn't feel as clever as I was expecting, to be honest. Some mechanics annoy me a little bit, like how Wario drops whatever item he's holding if you bump against a wall. The space between walls is often very narrow, so the amount of times I've dropped the enemy or rock I was holding has been very frustrating.

As far as I can tell, all of the transformations are lifted from Wario Land 3, which makes them a little less exciting. It was surreal to realize how many assets from the first WarioWare game were lifted straight from this one; music, Wario's sound bytes, sound effects, the minigame where you're assembling a Wario face... I had no idea those all originated in this game, so that's pretty neat. Props for that.

Speaking of the minigames, though--they kind of suck. They take far too long to get started. Like the one where I jump over obstacles as Wario on a tire, it feels like it takes 10 seconds or more before the first obstacle shows up. You have to grind away at the minigames to earn enough coins to buy items to make the bosses easier. I kind of hate that the game actively encourages me to skip entire phases of boss battles so I can beat it within the time limit and get all treasures.

The boss fights are tedious and go on for way too long. I just ran out of time on one when it only had one or two hits left, and that was after buying an item from the shop that dealt a fair bit of damage. So before I take on the boss again, I'm gonna have to grind away at those boring minigames again to make sure I don't run out of time again. It's just not a fun gameplay loop at all.

I was so excited when this game was announced to be coming to NSO, and I really wish I were enjoying it more. I don't hate it, but it's a bit of a slog for me to get through, and that really bums me out. The game just isn't clicking with me. I also missed a gem piece on the pinball level, which was easily the most tedious and boring level in the game so far, so I really dread having to go back and replay it. The fact you can "clear" the level without getting the key to advance to the next one or without the four Shards needed to unlock the boss is kind of annoying. It feels like needless padding because they knew players would have to go back and replay levels.

I still intend to see the game through to the end, but I feel no incentive to 100% complete it. Especially considering the records you unlock aren't even real songs and just sound nonsensical in not even a particularly funny way. I sort of get the impression the game was rushed out to coincide with the GBA launch window; I can't exactly articulate why, it just feels less polished to me than most Nintendo games. Maybe that's supposed to be part of the charm?

Oh well. I guess not every game is going to be for me, and that's okay. I know it has a cult following of passionate fans though, so I know my critique is gonna disappoint some people, and I feel a little bad about that.

I just completed a playthrough of Kirby's Adventure on my channel, and that's gotten me into a bit of a Kirby kick. So, I've decided to dub the rest of February, "Kirby Month!"

I'm currently playing through Kirby Super Star, which will have daily uploads on the channel starting next week. The following week, I plan to move on to Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Here's the link to my first episode of Kirby's Adventure, if anybody wants to check it out:

https://youtu.be/M4ojJ-rptVY?si=KAg0PfR0H-rIR2A7

I'd like to start making themed months a regular thing on my channel. With next month being "Mar10 Day," I might dedicate March to playing a bunch of Mario games on camera. We'll see!

Missed opportunity to put "no dice" as the subheading.

As long as my screen orientation doesn't keep flipping upside down on me when I'm trying to hold it upright, as my phone is prone to do. Surely, there will at least be a rotation lock feature.

Mario Golf World Tour being so low is criminal. How is it 15 while Toadstool Tour is #1? I grew up on Toadstool Tour back in the GameCube days. I believe it was my first Mario sports game I owned. I have a lot of fond memories playing it with my brother, so it's a nostalgic game for me.

But with that said, World Tour is better in every way. Way more content--if you include the DLC, there's LOADS more courses and characters than in Toadstool Tour. The gameplay feels perfectly refined--by shot always goes exactly where I want. The courses are much more unique and creative, with settings such as outer space, a yarn Yoshi world, underwater, DK's jungle, a giant garden, etc. Lots of unlockable cosmetics and clubs for your Mii character. The online stuff was pretty cool, like tournaments.

The only thing holding it back from being peak was being stuck on a handheld. I never got to experience this game with local multiplayer, as there was no option for download play. Do you know how hard it is to find another person who owns a copy of the Mario Golf World Tour game for the Nintendo 3DS family of handhelds??

I would love to see an HD console port of this game. It would undo a thousand Camelot sins to have the game playable on a modern device.

@DiggleDog *relentlessly tooting MIDI trumpets

Why is he salivating in both of these? Does he have rabies?

As @Lizuka said, it honestly is kind of surprising, as they haven't released a mobile game that doesn't operate in the completely separate sphere of Pokémon for quite some time now. I'm not a mobile gamer, but I've always said that three perfect fits would be a WarioWare game, a touch-based Kirby game like either Canvas Curse or Mass Attack, and a Mario vs. Donkey Kong game with the Minis.

@N00BiSH

That's a hard disagree from me, although I would never go so far as to say any of the Metroid games I've played were "terrifying." The closest is probably the EMMI from Dread, but that's more because they come around the corner and jumoscare you.

The first Luigi's Mansion game is pretty eerie, though, like the implication that the ghosts are a real family that died. Chauncey was scarier as a kid, but he's still pretty creepy, as is the little girl who sleeps upside down. The music that kicks in when you fight her, and when you fight the fat dude in the kitchen, is really anxiety-inducing, like a record that keeps on scratching. Speaking of the fat dude in the kitchen, he looks pretty grotesque, almost like a Little Nightmares character.

By the way, this wasn't my comment, but the "Bowser already being defeated" thing comes from Madame Clairvoya, the fortune teller, who says something to sees him in her crystal ball and says this is an impossibility because Mario defeated him for good. It was never clear to me whether the final boss was just King Boo in a Bowser costume, or more disturbingly, the hollowed remains of Bowser. When the head comes flying off and he puts it back on upside down and starts running around haphazardly, unable to see where he's going--it's pretty messed up imagery if it really is supposed to be more than just a suit.

Another moment that sticks out in my mind is when you defeat Boolossus and then all the lights in the mansion go out, leaving you completely helpless as ghosts swarm you until you turn the breaker back on. There's also the "Luigi hanging from a noose" thing, but that's honestly probably just a graphical mishap more than anything.

When you're roaming the halls in the dark, the main theme is very unnerving too, with the low-pitched trombone (or whatever the instrument is) blasting loudly. The main melody in the other Luigi's Mansion games is a bit more lighthearted and playful. You also have graphics that go for a less cartoony and more realistic style, and the rooms are way darker.

Maybe you're misremembering and need to give the first game another go. I would argue it borders on being a softcore horror game. Maybe a better comparison than Metroid is actually Majora's Mask, which released around the same time. LM1 was also planned to have a similar time limit that was scrapped. (Pikmin also came out that year and had a time limit.) Nintendo... really wanted to remind you of the inevitability of death in those days.

My personal opinion--just one, singular mansion like the first game. It's called Luigi's "Mansion" for a reason, after all, and the third game was already drifting away from that idea by having it set in a hotel. Each individual floor of The Last Resort is effectively its own level, like the 5 distinctly themed mansions in LM2. LM1 still has the most open-ended mansion with relatively free exploration in more of a metroidvania-style format. I want to see the series return to its roots and do more of that. But, with a much bigger mansion than LM1 with more rooms to explore.

I'd also like if you could wander the grounds outside the mansion and explore a surrounding haunted forest and lake area. LM1 had you step into the courtyard briefly, and LM2 and 3 tease you with these stunning vistas out the window that you just want to go explore.

The only exception to my desire to see LM4 set in another mansion is that I would also be fine with a creepy medieval castle. Not Bowser's Castle as the article suggests, as that's too vanilla and would take away part of what makes Luigi's Mansion special as a spin-off independent from the Super Mario series. I would want a more realistic castle like the Simon Belmont trailer for Smash Ultimate. That looked awesome. I would totally be down for a Luigi's Mansion game that looked like that.

Really, I just want it to go for a darker theme like the first game, which is genuinely disturbing at times. LM2 and 3 are too zany and silly for my liking, and I imagine if the next game takes place on a cruise ship or in an amusement park or one of these other ideas posed in the article, it would continue being too silly and cartoony for my taste. The first game isn't too intense for kids, and I would argue most kids like being scared, to an extent. Look at how many little kids love FNAF or Poppy's Playtime, for example. My six-year-old nephew agrees the first game is the best.

So, make it dark and spoopy again, Nintendo! Make it as eerie as a Metroid game again. And don't get too hung up on coming up with a creative new setting; you don't have to re-invent the wheel, but sometimes Nintendo likes to innovate just for the sake of it. I just want a solid Luigi's Mansion with open level design, a more serious tone, ghosts with unique designs, and the combat and environmental puzzles from LM2. Keeping the multiplayer co-op would be cool, too.

@ChakraStomps I disagree. It would be a troll move to have the game NOT release on the console it was announced for 7 years ago. I'd be pretty upset if I went out and bought a Switch after the announcement that Metroid Prime 4 was coming, only for that not to happen. Not that there aren't plenty of other great Switch games to play instead, but still, it's the principle. Maybe the gane will get graphics and performance boosts on Switch 2, which I would prefer to a separate SKU.

@Paula_M_3 You're apparently unfamiliar with "Miiverse After Dark," I see. It was spearheaded by this dude whose username, I believe, was "The_Bard" or something like that. If I'm remembering correctly, his Mii was bald and had a white shirt and a big nose, maybe glasses. He posted lots of really obscene art that got tons of attention. I'm pretty sure he just kept making alt accounts whenever he got banned.

Edit: I did some Googling and found some of his old posts. Turns out his name had a space instead of an underscore, he wasn't bald but had short, brown hair, and his nose wasn't really that big. I don't know why I felt the need to clarify this.

@michellelynn0976 Yeah, that's the thing--modern social media sites are so toxic nowadays and are absolutely terrible for my mental health. I can't scroll on Twitter/X for longer than five minutes without someone accusing somebody of being the absolute worst thing you can imagine which I can't say here on Nintendo life, and then the other person responding, "Sounds like you're projecting, I think you're the [insert very serious accusation that shouldn't be taken lightly]!" I had to remove the app from my Home screen and seldom get on there anymore unless I'm looking to see if Pyoro or SamusHunter or somebody has tweeted about a rumor. It'd be great to see Nintendo give us a positive alternative, free from all the toxicity.

@JCnator I got a temporary ban on Miiverse back in the day for posting "violent content."

I was trying to get somebody to play hangman with me, lol.

I got so excited when I saw the trailer drop on YouTube! I never played this game back on the GBA but have heard nothing but great things... Technically that's not true, I actually did own this game as a kid but for some reason didn't know what I was doing and only got past maybe one level? I dunno. Regardless, it's essentially a brand-new game, and I can't wait!

And it's dropping on Valentine's Day, no less! Wario has finally acknowledged my unrequited love!! 🥰❤️🧄

@StewdaMegaManNerd I don't know what you're talking about, I've been using my JoyCon to eat spaghetti for years now.

If the L and R buttons in the JoyCon don't include a scroll wheel like Sakurai wanted back in the GameCube days, that would be huge wasted potential, considering every computer mouse has a scroll wheel. That would just make it feel even more like an authentic mouse.

@Yosher This game has been fixed more than a weiner dog at Dr. Chopemoff's veterinarian clinic.

@Banjo-

(Part 2: The Sequel)

My feelings on 3D Land and 3D World are funny because I actually don't really like 3D World that much and would rather play 3D Land. I hold 3D World in a similar regard like Odyssey, but for different reasons. 3D World is fun when you have other people to play it with, but as a single player game, I think it can often be a slog.

3D Land and 3D World both have those red and blue tiles that flip when you jump, but they're significantly larger in 3D World because they were designed to accommodate four players. So if you're playing by yourself, you have these platforming segments that are just a complete cakewalk with little in the way of challenge. People will point to Champion's Road, but one level at the very end of the game that's so hard it's not even that fun doesn't make up for the rest of the game.

3D Land was exciting because it marked the return of the Tanooki suit. I was more open to the idea of a linear 3D Mario game since it was on a handheld, and the graphics of 3D Land were really impressive. It felt like a "Super Mario Galaxy Lite," and as someone who loves Galaxy, having a more truncated version that you could play on the go was awesome. It was also the best showcase of stereoscopic 3D of probably any game on the system.

3D World was technically in HD, but it didn't "feel" next-gen, with its extra cutesy and plastic look about it. As the next console 3D Mario game and the only one we would get for the entire console generation, 3D World failed to live up to the scope and splendor of Galaxy. Other than the multiplayer, the main gimmick was the cat suit, which I always thought was kind of a lame power-up. The game was emblematic of a problem Nintendo had at the time with making all of their games target a more casual, vanilla, sanitized, and safe approach.

Even when I take a step back and try to view 3D World on its own without comparing it to all the other problems with Wii U-era Nintendo, the game still fails to wow me. It's not that I can't enjoy a more linear 3D platformer, as Crash Bandicoot 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. I also really enjoyed Astro Bot, as another example. I just don't find the moment-to-moment gameplay in 3D World to be very stimulating, the way it still is when I go back and play Mario 3, or World, or 64, or any number of other games.

I've tried to give it multiple chances, and again, I do think it's pretty fun as a co-op game. But as a single player game, it fails to hold my attention. I guess the problem with 3D World is that it plays things too safe and lack ambition, whereas Odyssey felt like they were too ambitious and threw too many ideas at the wall but nothing sticked. Their only similarity is that they both feel too easy, like they were made for kids first and foremost instead of being made for everyone. I would lump Princess Peach Showtime and especially Kirby Star Allies into that box as well. Maybe even Luigi's Mansion 3, which had the easiest and most boring combat in the series, in my opinion.

Odyssey and 3D World are both still 8/10 games for me--they still have that Nintendo quality in terms of polish and everything--but basically every other mainline Mario game is a perfect 10 in my eyes, so that's still quite disappointing in comparison. Mario games just set such a high bar. I guess I respect Odyssey more for being different, but neither are games I find myself dying to revisit.

@Banjo-

Thank you, appreciate it as always! Sounds like you and I are in agreement about Odyssey; I found that game to be quite underwhelming because it's so devoid of challenge and many of the moons are just handed to you. The game is oftentimes missing the satisfaction of making you feel like you "earned" your reward. Conditions for collecting Power Moons often get quite repetitive as well. Ground-pound the glowing spot, kick the glowing rock, etc.

I would argue the post-game actually makes it worse in a lot of cases. For example, adding a Koopa Freerun challenge to every kingdom. In Super Mario 64, only two levels had you race Koopa the Quick, and they're memorable because of that. But having a Koopa Freerun challenge in every kingdom makes those kingdoms no longer feel as special, imo. It just gets very repetitive and tedious after a while.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Sand Kingdom and Metro Kingdom are amazing; I really loved those worlds, but when I played the final game, it was apparent to me why those two kingdoms were in so many trailers. They were two of the most ambitious kingdoms in scope, but then you play something like the Lake Kingdom and it hardly feels like a sandbox because it's so small. I think Jolly Roger Bay may have even been larger in terms of overall real estate, but that was on 20-year-old hardware when Odyssey came out.

I would have expected the scope of every level to be at least as large as the Sand Kingdom. A few are, like the Luncheon and Wooded Kingdoms. But then you have the Cloud and Ruined Kingdoms which are pretty much just for a boss fight and feel like wasted potential.

It was like they had to rush the game out for the Holiday, and so two entire kingdoms were cut. Odyssey is a game that just didn't live up to its full potential for me, and in many ways, Bowser's Fury was the sandbox successor to 64 and Sunshine I had been waiting for.

I really loved how versatile Mario's moveset was, though, with being able to throw Cappy and dive on your hat in midair. That was really cool. As far as the capture mechanic goes, ones like the Bullet Bill made for some fun challenges. But many of them feel worse than your base moveset, and I'd rather just stick with regular old Mario.

Personally, I prefer 64 and the Galaxy games to Sunshine, but I do still really love Sunshine. I would argue that game has higher highs than any other mainline Mario game, but also lower lows. So it's definitely a mixed bag for me, and it's a shame it wasn't given just a little more time in the oven. Super Mario Sunshine could have really benefitted from a ground-up remake. With some refinements, it could definitely be in the conversation of best games of all-time.

@AshleyGamer64 Who, me? Nah, that game sucks.

(Jk lol.)

@Anachronism I don't think it has to be an either-or scenario. They can put both games on Switch 2. I expect we might see a lot of that this coming generation. Street Fighter 5 and 6, Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes plus 6 and 7, Final Fantasy 7 remake and Rebirth plus FF15 and 16. The question isn't one of "if," but "when." In what order will these games release? Will they space them all out, or will we get multiple at once? But eventually, they're all coming.

Some key takeaways:

Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey used to be neck-and-neck in sales for the longest time. The fact that a mainline 3D Zelda game is now a few million ahead of the mainline 3D Mario game this generation as we near its end is insane. It even outsold an entire generation of POKÉMON! Congrats, Nintendo--Zelda is finally the financial juggernaut it always deserved to be. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that the average, casual consumer would choose a Zelda adventure game over a Mario one. Maybe there's still hopes for the likes of Metroid. If only Pikmin could pull these numbers.

I really undersold Mario Kart 8's sales, lol. I recently recorded a video on my channel where I talked about how the game just keeps selling. I said something along the lines of, "It's sold, what, over 50 million units by now?" Haha... I was 17 million shy. 😳

Smash only selling about half as many units as Mario Kart is really surprising. I feel like most generations, they're really close, with Melee actually managing to beat out Double-Dash on the GameCube. It's especially shocking when you consider what Smash has become. How are you NOT the #1 bestseller when Minecraft Steve can beat up Sans Undertale?? I guess the next Smash will need to have more skibidi Fortnite Amogus rizz with a Freddy Fazbear Mii skin if they want to come out on top.

People are pessimistic that the Switch will surpass PS2 sales, but I'm confident it's still going to happen. People act like Nintendo is going to immediately discontinue Switch 1 sales as soon as the Switch 2 hits store shelves. They'll continue to support the Switch 1 with new games for years to come and make good on their old promise to keep it around for 10+ years.

@Yosher

I'm about to blow your mind.

Nintendo does this sort of thing all the time, lol. Listen to the soundtracks of Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, for example. Most levels use a remixed version of the same melody. Peach's Secret Slide is Bob-Omb Battlefield sped-up, and Cool Cool Mountain is a Christmassy version of Bob-Omb Battlefield. Gelato Beach, Ricco Harbor, and Bianco Hills all have the same melody as Delfino Plaza.

I guess Super Mario World was admittedly one of the first to do this. But there are countless examples of it in Nintendo music--especially Mario games.

My initial comment got too long, so some final thoughts real quick:

The multiplayer in both games is pretty underwhelming. SMW got rid of the competitive battle mode styled after the arcade Mario Bros., but it did introduce the ability to share your lives with the other player, which was kinda neat. Mario perhaps feels just a smidge better to control in SMW--he feels faster, floater--just a lot more nimble. (Again with the Sunshine comparisons, Mario absolutely books it in that game compared to 64, and FLUDD grants him even more manouverability.

I see Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World as companion pieces that coexist as two halves of the same whole. Each game has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and because of this, they compliment each other well. Whatever itch one of them leaves you with after playing, the other one will scratch. It's a perfect duology.

I don't think there's an objective answer to which game is better; it all comes down to subjective personal preference. "No duh, every game comes down to personal opinions," most would say. But I disagree--some games are objectively, verifiably better than others. You can have a certain affinity to a childhood game that makes you feel nostalgic, and your feelings are valid, but that doesn't change a game from being factually mediocre. I think if one takes as unbiased of a look at both games as possible, the most objective conclusion is that they're both nearly perfect in achieving what each game set out to accomplish. I don't think anyone can make a compelling case for why either game isn't a masterpiece.

@batmanbud2

I hold the games in equally high esteem. To SMB3's credit, it has more power-ups, more world themes, and it's more challenging. Mario 3 introduced the racoon suit, Tanooki suit, hammer suit, and frog suit, whereas SMW only really had the cape feather and I guess the different colored Yoshis with unique abilities, but that was less compelling. SMB3 also marked the debut of several Mario staples including Dry Bones, Boo, Thwomp, and the Koopalings. Outside of Yoshi, most characters that debuted in SMW aren't frequently recurring. On one hand, you could say that makes Mario World stand out as more unique from other Mario games, but on the other hand, I would argue it was less influential of the two games.

Super Mario Bros. 3 established a new precedent for Mario, whereas Super Mario World is more iterative. The cape feather is basically just the racoon suit again but more powerful. It does refine many aspects of SMB3 though by adding secret exits, an interconnected world map wherein you can replay levels you've already beaten, and little quality of life improvements like being able to throw a Koopa shell vertically. Weird that the NSMB series got rid of that last one, but I was happy Wonder brought the vertical shell toss back.

Super Mario World also let you hold onto a second item as backup that you could use any time from within a level, which was really cool. But I also liked how SMB3 had a whole inventory storage you could choose from on the world map.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is great if you're looking for a bit more traditional of a Mario experience that offers a decent challenge and has a lot of variety. Super Mario World is a somewhat easier romp that has a unique jurassic theme different from other Mario games, but you see a lot of repeating level themes and all the music is just different renditions of the main theme. You're given more incentive to explore every nook and cranny though, as you can actually save your progress on this one and can work toward 100% completion.

The game I prefer varies from day to day and completely depends on my mood, but because I feel like most people prefer SMB3, I'm apt to defend it. Maybe that makes it my favorite because I like to root for the underdog, I dunno. (Not that SMB3 isn't massively loved, but it gets the short end of the stick more often than not when compared to Super Mario World.)

In many ways, Super Mario World is to Super Mario 64 what Super Mario Sunshine is to Super Mario 64 (only SMW doesn't have Sunshine's jank). SMB3 and 64 were groundbreaking games, whereas their sequels built off of them and took advantage of new hardware possibilities. SMB3 and 64 have your typical Mario biomes you expect--deserts, snow worlds, etc.--while World and Sunshine stock to one specific theme, for better or worse. One is prehistoric, the other is summertime, but they both have a tropical sort of feel. They have their own weird enemies that aren't just your typical Goombas. They also both introduced Yoshi in a 2D/3D space, respectively. Heck, SMW ends by saying Mario, Peach, and Yoshi (no Luigi) are going to take a vacation, so it's almost like Sunshine picks up from where World left off.

This has all been a misunderstanding; it's actually the "Sí" button, which changes your console's native language to Spanish. I reached out to Miyamoto, who was wearing a sombrero at the time, to ask whether this was really necessary. He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Sí."

Well, I finally finished the Link's Awakening playthrough on my YouTube channel after a hiatus that lasted a couple weeks. This is because I basically dropped Zelda so I could complete a DKC Returns playthrough when the game came out. Which, I never actually linked last weekend, so here's the first episode if anyone wants to check it out! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui51yERWWqQ&t=17s

Now that I've finished Link's Awakening, I think the next game I'll play on my channel is gonna be Kirby's Adventure.

In my spare time, I've still been obsessively playing Mario Maker 2. Now that I've finished my Super Mario World "sequel," I'm doing the same thing but with Super Mario Bros. 3. I think I have a problem, lol.

Oh, Sega... you really shouldn't have.

I sure hope so. I'm more excited about potential Switch 1 ports/remakes than I am about original new games coming to Switch 2, if I'm being honest.

I've started a podcast on my YouTube channel and will be posting the second episode in the coming days, which will be focused on what I'd like to see in both the April and rumored February Directs. I've decided to call it the "Pictochat Podcast," which I think is a pretty darn good name, if I do say so myself. I won't post all my predictions here, so as not to spoil the video, but if you've read my other comments in the past, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

I think there's still a lot of life left yet in the OG Switch, and I'm excited to see what games release on it in the coming years. I'm sure Nintendo will continue to support it with new games through at least 2027, sticking to their word about wanting the console to enjoy a 10-year life cycle. The install base is just so huge, and not everyone will adopt the new console right away, so they need to still cater to that audience as well.

3DS was still getting games as late as 2019, after all, and that system only sold like half as many units. With Switch 2 being backwards compatible, games that get announced for Switch 1 will still be playable on the new hardware (possibly with enhancements, even), so gamers aren't going to feel burned like they did when the Bowser's Inside Story remake came to 3DS and said, "Why can't I play this on my Switch??"

Throughout the Switch generation, Nintendo has been able to release a first-party game almost every month, which is a pretty impressive track record. I think Nintendo will continue to keep a similar momentum moving forward, but it will be split up between the two consoles, which might be upsetting for some people. What I mean by that is, in the first 12 months of the Switch 2's life cycle, I think that (given the challenge of adapting to 4K development) we might get, say, 7 first-party Switch 2 games and 5 first-party Switch 1 games. Basically, a new Switch 2 game every other month with a Switch 1 game filling in the gaps.

I'd be perfectly okay with this, but I don't know how other people would feel. I think that's still an amazing output, especially compared to Xbox and PlayStation these days.

@JS_Comics This is false. You cannot ride squirrels.

@Yoshi3 That's an important bit of context that changes my perspective on things a bit. In that case, I think the name is fine, but they should have picked a different font that doesn't look almost identical to the Super Mario Bros. logo to distance themselves from the video game company. If they just did that, I don't think they would have been on Nintendo's radar in the first place, personally.

Nintendo did recently file trademarks for hotels and cafés, I believe. I doubt they're looking to expand into grocery stores though, because how or why would they?

Personally, I get where Nintendo is coming from, to an extent. I mean, the font is basically identical to the Super Mario Bros. font. It's one thing to operate a local used games store that has a large Mario standee out front to show the kinds of games you have for sale. The average person isn't going to see that and assume this is an official Nintendo store, necessarily. But if it's in the actual name of the store, I could see that causing confusion.

You could say, well what's the big deal? So what if people are confused? Consider if the grocery store isn't properly storing their frozen meat at the appropriate temperature. Then you'd get a news headline like "Salmonella outbreak at local Super Mario store due to owner negligence." Nintendo doesn't want to be mistakenly associated with that.

Likewise, you've probably seen the Spanish commercials on YouTube for "Dr. Amigo," whose mascot is straight up Dr. Mario. Imagine if a patient dies at this facility due to medical malpractice. What would that do to Nintendo's brand? Now their most iconic character is associated with killing somebody.

I could understand people getting upset about this if Nintendo was suing this small family business and looking for reparations; that would be a pretty big PR fiasco and would totally be a bully move by Nintendo. But I'm interpreting this as Nintendo just intervening with the trademark renewal process and trying to get them to stop using their likeness. "Hey, we're not asking you for money, but we'd like you to change the name." Which, I think is completely valid. This is a small PR hit they're willing to take to avoid a much larger PR issue of someone slipping on a wet floor and dying of a concussion at Super Mario's.

Hot take: this game is significantly more fun than 3D World.

I shill for Nintendo harder than just about anybody, but when it comes to this sort of thing, Nintendo absolutely has it coming. It's hard to feel empathy for them in scenarios like this when they allow all sorts of copyright-infringing slop just like this on their own storefront. Games that use stolen developer assets, eShop listings with AI character art that looks copied and pasted straight from Zootopia--frankly, it's a wonder Nintendo hasn't been sued by various companies like Disney for allowing those kinds of games on their eShop. They kinda deserve to get a taste of their own medicine and have no right to get offended if they think this will damage their brand. At least, not until they do better. Whatever happened to the Nintendo seal of quality? Can we bring quality assurance back for the Switch 2, please?

Some of the fault also lies on the gamers themselves, if we're being honest. I'm not sure how many people actually fall victim to these scams, but the companies that release this drivel still profit off it because content creators buy these games and give them free publicity in their videos of "Worst shovelware of all-time" and those videos perform really well with hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of views. Then the gamers themselves go and buy the games to have a laugh with their friends. I'm not singling any one person out, I think we all carry a degree of guilt, myself included.

If we just ignored garbage like this, it would go away. But we don't. Mediocrity makes for widespread publicity, so games like this always have a chance of finding moderate success. I guarantee the creators of AAA Clock have made all kinds of money from people buying the game for the memes and for the "lolz." It released years ago, yet I still hear people keeping it alive by joking about it on the internet. Meanwhile, stuff that's actually good falls under the radar because they aren't offensive enough to get attention. We thrive off of shock value.

How does our species build massive skyscrapers and other technological marvels when we're all such simple-minded and degenerate creatures? Just look at me, pondering over the absurdity of this article because I have nothing better to do with my miserable life. I'M PART OF THE PROBLEM, COMPLICIT IN A SEA OF BRAIN ROT!

@Pat_trick

Honestly, I forgot this article was even about Fantasy Life, lol. I always wanted to play it on 3DS but never did. I downloaded it ahead of the eShop closure but haven't gotten around to playing it. I still intend to, but I was miffed that right after purchasing it as well as other co-op games like Federation Force and Tri-Force Heroes before they were gone forever, Nintendo came out and said they were shutting down the online. I'll get around to playing it eventually and don't intend to pick up the sequel until after I've finished it, which I imagine will take a while.

I might get the sequel eventually, but I'm a little apprehensive about it, considering Level-5's recent blunders with multiple delays and making an AI trailer for Yo-Kai. They were out of the game for so long, I worry they might not be the same company they used to be. I'm also not crazy about the sequels art style.

To once again derail the comment section lol, I'm curious why you think Elon is an enemy of free speech. I see people criticize Elon constantly, every single day on his own platform, but he doesn't crack down on it. He's also had many of his own posts get flagged with community notes, and he boasts that this is an important feature that keeps even himself accountable from spreading misinformation. My personal view is that the Left has been suppressing free speech for some time, and that this election was a major victory in the fight against censorship of political adversaries.

The Trumo campaign, for instance, just announced that they will be opening the door to independent journalists including podcasters, content creators, et cetera to ask the administration questions that better represent the concerns of the average American citizen instead of just mainstream media. They haven't revoked those mainstream media outlets' access though and are actually reinstating access to several publications who were turned down from attending press interviews during the previous administration. I feel that is an objectively good thing, giving even more freedom to the press.

Oof, that's actually a pretty big issue. I played through the game in single player, so I never noticed that. But yeah, I can absolutely see how this would make some of the temple levels impossible to get through without player 2 dying. Pretty glaring oversight that I hope they patch. Maybe Nintendo acquired the wrong company. How do you let AlphaDream die but then buy Forever Entertainment instead?

@Ogbert I apologize for putting words in your mouth. I often hear Nazism and fascism used synonymously by people on the Left. I still disagree that Musk is a fascist, but I can at least respect and appreciate when people are able to make a distinction between the two. I wasn't trying to stir any confusion and am sorry if that's how my reply came across.

@Friendly

But wouldn't deliberately doing a sieg heil completely undermine the idea of keeping up appearances, though? And if that was really the gesture he was trying to make, why would he deny it? They won the election, so he has the power. Wouldn't now be the time to drop the act and do whatever evil things he wants to do?

I see people criticizing Musk on his own platform constantly. If he was really a Fascist who believed in a totalitarian regime, wouldn't he crack down on dissenting voices and ban all those accounts?

If you look at someone like Hitler, he was very upfront about his hatred for other races well before he came into power. Mein Kampf was written in the 1920's, and he was very open about what he called the "Jewish problem" and what he intended to about it. The people knew what they were getting when they allowed someone like him to crawl his way to power, as there was no ambiguity about it. Why is Musk not wearing his racism on his sleeve like a badge of honor the way Hitler did? Is he just trolling everybody? Gaslighting? I guess that's theoretically possible, but how do you prove that?

My critique with modern Leftism is that many people seem to be convinced that everyone on the Right, or at least a good number of them, are secretly Nazis but are just too cowardly to come out and say it. This is nothing new, as the Right has been guilty of this same paranoia as well. Think back to the Cold War when progressive political activists were often feared to be Communist spies living among us and, in some cases, were even put in jail for it.

Just like it's superficial to judge someone based on the color of their skin, I think it's also superficial to judge someone based on whether or not their hand was at a 120 degree angle. I look at their actions, outspoken beliefs, and the substance behind the words they speak. I don't agree with everything Musk says, but I do have a level of respect for him and am not convinced he's a monster.

People say his father exploited Africans on emerald mines and cite this as evidence he's equally bad, but it's important to understand Elon hates his father, who beat him as a child and inflicted other traumas upon him that Elon refuses to talk about and gets very defensive when asked about. So I don't think it's fair when people judge him based on his father--a man he wants to be nothing like.

I'm open to being proven wrong though, if someone can give me substantial evidence as to why he is, indeed, a Nazi. I want to be on the right side of history as much as anyone.

I'm curious whether you're of the opinion that people with hostile views toward whites/males/Christians could also be classified as Nazis. I think discrimination against any group of people is equally bad, and whether one considers that group to have systemic power in society is irrelevant. That's what Nazi Germans thought about the Jews, after all: that they "control the banks, the college institutions, the arts, the press." Thinking that it's okay to target a group of people because you perceive they hold all the power is a dangerous slope to go down and a tactic that has been used time and time again to justify horrific atrocities. Power dynamics also change constantly, so today's oppressed can become tomorrow's oppressors and vice-versa. We've witnessed this pattern also.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

@Ogbert Genuine question, which will probably be deleted by the mods in about 2 minutes, but I'm asking this in all sincerity: Why would a Nazi honor victims at a Holocaust memorial?

I remember back in 2012 when Ubisoft delayed Rayman for like a year and then went multiplatform and every Nintendo fan hated them for it. Funny how the perception of console exclusivity has changed over the years. Imagine going back in time and showing a Wii U owner these comments. They'd probably say "What is X and why are the comments getting deleted? Why doesn't Nintendo Life link to Twitter instead?" But THEN, they'd ask what happened to console wars.

@FishyS Hey, thanks so much for playing them! I'm glad you're enjoying them!