1. The addition of a third-party, multiplatform game like Balatro feels a little unfair to include in a "Nintendo" quiz, in my opinion. If it was a Switch exclusive or published by Nintendo, then sure. But this isn't a game I've followed in the slightest, regardless of popularity. You may as well have asked, "What was the first Fortnite emote they added to the game this year?"
2. For the question about where Switch ranks among Nintendo's best-selling consoles, I think a clear definition of "console" is needed. Since the Switch released, it seems that the lines have blurred, but I always thought a "console" was a dedicated TV system as opposed to a handheld. Ergo, the Nintendo DS was not technically a "console." Is that not the case?
Edit: After reading @Dr_Corndog's comment, which currently has four upvotes, it looks like I'm not alone on this.
I'm almost over being sick, so I just recorded another video of myself playing Mario Party online. It's currently uploading and should be live in about an hour at the link here: https://youtu.be/K-658k-qEHw?si=ISAjud8AaW2tgZaP
I recently wrapped up my New Super Mario Bros. U playthrough on my channel and will be starting a new game. Not sure which one I'll do next, though. I've been promising people that Zelda is coming soon, but I'm not sure if I'm feeling it this week. I've really been itching to replay A Hat in Time, so that might be my first series of 2025, with Link's Awakening coming at a later date.
I don't have a problem with games that are essentially "clones" of other games, but I prefer playing the source material before playing the games it inspired. So, I'm holding off on playing Anton Blast or Pizza Tower at least until I've had a chance to play Wario Land 4. If you want to release that on NSO one day soon, Nintendo, that'd be pretty swell.
@Rhum17 Thanks so much friend, I greatly appreciate the kind words! I think the majority of people on this site are pretty understanding and it's rare that I'm met with hostility like I was last Christmas. At the time though, that one incident was enough to make me feel like I was just done with this site, but my feelings changed after a day or two and I'm glad I stuck around. Comments like yours motivate me to keep making posts. It always means a lot to know they resonate with somebody. This is a good community.
@DipperMisterioPines Whoa, hey, Dipper, dude! It's me, Soos! Heheh, fancy seeing you here, dude. Me and Toby Determined are gonna go FCLORP-ing later if you wanna join us. TO MY GRANDMA'S BACKYAAARD!
Also, @Arkay @Kienda, it's nice to see other people of faith in the Nintendo Life comments! It seems that people are finally getting comfortable expressing their religion again, which makes me happy. For a while, it felt like everybody was jusy expected to sweep it under the rug. God bless the both of you! And everybody else--whether you're Christian or not, I hope you'll at least appreciate the gesture that you're in my prayers.
I think what rubbed people the wrong way about my comment, for whatever reason, is that I ended it with, "Am I a good uncle or what? 😁" Apparently to them, that's conceited, like I was trying to put everybody else down as lesser or something. I really don't get it.
When people got on my case about it, I explained how I just want to do what I can for him considering his parents are divorced, and how I just want to be a positive influence in his life unlike one of my uncles who was a terrible person. One NL user responded that by being unwilling to see what was wrong with my initial comment, I'm displaying a lack of maturity and needed to grow up.
Also, he said he never asked for me to divulge about my family's trauma and that doing so was unnecessary and unhinged of me, basically. No sympathy whatsoever, just cold and heartless. That's the only time I've ever blocked anybody on this site.
I'll never understand how anybody could be so miserable. May they get the help they so desperately need. I guess the responsibility is on me to not take the random words of an internet stranger to heart, but I'm a sensitive person, I'll admit. Thank you for the kind words.
And thanks to @Arkay as well. I appreciate you all for the positive sentiment!
By the way, for those who are interested, I'm currently uploading a special Christmas video to my channel, where I play through various winter-themed Switch levels. The video won't be done processing for some time, as it's a long one, but here's the link for when it goes live! https://youtu.be/ANd15sN1emg
Edit: The video is now live!
I made a custom thumbnail for it too, whereas usually I just go with one of YouTube's randomly-generated screenshots from the episode. I took a graphic design class as an elective in college a few years ago, but I don't remember much from it, lol. So, my Photoshop skills aren't the best, but... it's something! I also made a custom thumbnail for yesterday's video where I react to a weird Chick Fil-A animated series that has nothing to do with chicken. I'd like to start making more custom thumbnails moving forward.
Last year, I shared how I bought my little nephew a Zelda-edition 3DS XL for Christmas, and people on this site called me a narcissist fishing for likes for some reason. That was really hurtful, not gonna lie. So yeah, Merry Christmas to everybody except for those Grinches and Scrooges who think it's okay to tear people down for no reason, especially during the holidays--I hope Santa left a big stinky in your stocking this year.
At the risk of sounding like even more of an egotistical sociopath than last year, I bought my nephew the Deku Tree LEGO set, which was the present he wanted more than anything else. Everywhere was sold out, so I had to pay an extra hundred bucks to get one off eBay. In all, it cost me over $400, but watching him elatedly put the set together over the course of what will probably be several weeks makes it all worth it. I'd do anything to put a smile on that kid's face. I truly am the scum of the earth, huh?
@StewdaMegaManNerd SNES and N64 still had some bangers in their soundtracks. Me not liking either of those water tracks has nothing to do with the limitations of the hardware they were composed for; I'm just not crazy about either of those melodies. I still adore Koji Kondo and David Wise's music, though. They're my two favorite composers except for Yoko Shimomura.
@VHSGREMLIN Heritics like myself are never appreciated in our time, but like Martin Luther when he nailed his grievances to the church door, I'll be remembered fondly in history.
First Max got rid of their Cartoon Network shows, and now their games are being pulled. What's up with this Cartoon Network erasure all of a sudden?
It's no real loss outside of the Samurai Jack game, although I never finished it because I personally didn't love it despite the overwhelmingly positive reception. I know about the ending, though; at least that made up for the absolutely terrible way the show ended.
All Cartoon Network really has going for it anymore is MultiVersus, but even then, the representation isn't that great and the game apparently hasn't been doing very well, which is a shame. Hopefully, they'll get their crap together eventually. #MCNGA (Make Cartoon Network Great Again.)
At least Youtooz is making a Chowder figure. That has me excited. There's also Finn and Jake ones coming soon, but they don't look all that great so I'll probably pass on those.
Well, I played a round of Mario Party online with randos last night and uploaded it to my channel. My controller randomly stopped working at the end of a Jamboree Buddy minigame, so you get to watch me rage on camera:
I'm not sure if I'll record anything else this weekend, as I'm battling a cold right now. But when I feel better, I'll record my next series, which will probably be either A Hat in Time, Link's Awakening, or Super Mario Bros. 2, but that could change.
Outside of the channel, I'm playing through Pokémon X for the first time. I've never been a big Pokémon fan, but I loved Arceus, so now I'm going back and trying to give the older games a chance.
...Okay, now that I've actually looked at it, this looks sick! Some parts are a little more rough around the edges than others, but on the whole, this is what I would expect from a Galaxy remaster. Maybe someday we'll get what Super Mario 3D All-Stars SHOULD have been... with Galaxy 2 included, to boot.
Unfortunately, this does look like something Nintendo would shut down, though. If you make something original, they're unlikely to mess with it. But a direct recreation of one of their games? That they're not too keen on.
I really thought they were going to end with the trilogy, until news started surfacing that the movie was going to have another post-credits scene. I saw the leaked post-credits scene online because I just couldn't help myself. I won't spoil it for anyone else, but it certainly makes it entertaining to read the speculation in the comments.
It's also hilarious how Jim Carrey kept saying he was retiring, and now all of a sudden he's like, "I actually like doing sequels now, maybe someday I will do another Grinch or The Mask movie," lol.
@OorWullie The list probably isn't accurate. If you ever bought a new Switch like an OLED and transferred all your data, it still resets the internal play time to zero. So, if you played Mario Kart 8 for 200 hours, transferred your data to a new system, and then played Hello Kitty Island Adventure for five minutes, Hello Kitty would be on top and Mario Kart would be on the bottom.
I think the Switch also starts erasing old play times after a certain amount of time has elapsed. I remember checking my play time for Breath of the Wild and watching it decrease day by day, as it just starts deleting the oldest records after a few years. It's really weird, shortsighted, and annoying.
I actually got up with Nintendo's customer support about it a few years ago. They actually took it really seriously, as I kept getting calls from Nintendo over the next several months asking additional questions to get a better understanding of the situation. Someone at Nintendo HQ was actively troubleshooting this. But eventually, they stopped contacting me, and we never got a firmware update that addressed this.
So yeah, your play time is likely very misleading.
I don't care about Marvel vs. Capcom, but I just wanna say how great it is these gaming companies really seem to be taking fan feedback to heart. I don't care what anybody says--this is the best time to be a gamer.
Capcom is bringing back Okami and potentially a slew of other titles like Mega Man or maybe Viewtiful Joe, localizing the Japanese-exclusive Ace Attorney games, etc.
Namco is remastering Pac-Man World, Klonoa, the Tales Of series, Baten Kaitos, and Katamari.
SEGA is remastering and releasing new games in franchises such as Sonic, Monkey Ball, and Samba de Amigo that are actually GOOD, with more on the way like Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Golden Axe.
Ubisoft is bringing back the Rayman IP.
A new Ninja Gaiden just got announced.
Crash and Spyro got beautiful HD trilogies. SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom was remastered, with both it and Crash Bandicoot getting a brand-new entry this gen.
All the classic Tomb Raider games are getting remastered.
The Mario Mandates have listed and RPG's are finally back!
Metroid Prime 4 is on the cusp of releasing.
We got our first 3D Kirby game, our first nonlinear Pokémon and Sonic games, our first (and second) open-world Zelda games, and our first sandbox 3D Mario game after 15 years.
Smash Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 have insane amounts of content and are objectively the definitive games in their respective franchises.
Mario Party is great again.
2017 to now has been PEAK gaming. Nothing comes close to this. It doesn't matter how many F2P games with microtransactions and AI art are out there; if that's all you feel like you see nowadays, you're living under a rock.
I just hope Sony follows suit after the success of Astrobot and brings back Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ape Escape and other classic franchises. And, of course, Microsoft needs to revive Rare titles like Banjo and Konker, but NSO is a start at least.
I feel really, really positive about the years ahead as a gamer. It's easy to take for granted, but in 2016, so many of my dream game announcements felt like nothing more than pipe dreams. But flash forward less than a decade later, and I've probably had more than 30 seemingly "impossible" wishes come true!
It's amazing what can happen when developers actually LISTEN. Hollywood has also been very tone-deaf toward consumer interests, but I think diminishing returns and the ease of being able to see what audiences actually are looking for via social media will soon change that. Look how Into the Spiderverse has had such an overwhelmingly positive impact on CG-animated movies.
If I'm being objective, the Japanese one is probably better. But personally, I think I like Amaterasu's pose on the Western one more. Blue is also my favorite color, so that background is aesthetically pleasing to me, but the cherry blossom trees are much more representative of the game itself.
I've never been a big Mega Man fan, but I would very much like to try the Legends games someday, whether remakes or ports of the originals. A 3D take on the franchise might be what finally gets me into the series.
Currently playing through New Super Mario Bros. U on my channel. The first episode won't be up until next week, but here's the link to my most recent YouTube series, Jak and Daxter:
There's a lot of games that recently got DLC I want to dip back into, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do that as well. Astrobot, Disney Speedstorm, Sonic x Shadow Generations.
Otherwise, I started a new file on Yoshi's Island DS as I haven't played that game in probably well over a decade and wanted to see what I would think of it after all these years. I'm starting on World 3. Some of the bosses are pretty neat, but otherwise, the game is kind of forgettable so far.
Having the gameplay spread across both screens is kind of annoying, as sometimes you can't see collectibles or enemies because they're hiding in the midsection between the two screens. The baby-swapping mechanic (that's a weird thing to say) doesn't add much depth either, as switching between them is always mandatory and it's super obvious which one you need, so it's not like there's a lot of experimentation or customization going on.
@ThatOneSneak Yeah, and I'm sure Geoff Keighley had to sign off on that speech, too. Y'know, people can say what they want about Geoff being a sellout, a shill, the Game Awards being rigged, etc. But not only did he give the thumbs-up on that speech, he also had the whole "game changer" segment highlighting the guy helping laid-off game developers find work, and a couple years ago when the ActiVision sexual harassment allegations came out, he gave a pretty strong condemnation and message of solidarity to those in the industry who have been effected.
I think he's honestly a good dude, regardless of what people say. He always shines a spotlight on diverse talents at his show, like honoring one of the first female programmers, highlighting games from cultures that often go underrepresented in the gaming space, and giving acclaim to games that shine a light on disabilities and terminal illnesses.
Yeah, the output of NSO games has been pretty solid this year, but I feel like there weren't as many heavy-hitters. Some big ones that come to mind are Metroid: Zero Mission, Four Swords, Donkey Kong Land I-III, the Starfy series, Super Mario Land, Mario Tennis/Golf GBC, and Banjo-Tooie.
But the majority of these games are short experiences that can be beaten in just a couple hours. This year's lineup pales in comparison to the first year of N64 when we got Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Paper Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, Kirby 64, all those initial Genesis games, Animal Crossing Happy Home DLC, etc. I'd argue the launch years for SNES and GB/GBA NSO were also better.
The weaker lineup this year isn't just because we didn't get a new platform added this year though, as there are still many more quality games they can put on the service. I can't believe it's taking this long to get Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Smash Bros. It's been three years now. It's also frustrating we don't have the other Wario Land games yet.
This was a good year for NSO when it comes to archiving games that are historically important but not necessarily ones that people are dying to play, like Mach Rider and Donkey Kong Jr. Math. I can appreciate they're on the service for preservation purposes, but they're more of a novelty than anything. There was also no big DLC expansion, since the Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass already wrapped up in 2023. Not even the Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC was included.
So yeah, I appreciate the output, as it didn't feel like we were waiting for ages for something new to drop. But this year probably had the least-compelling additions to the service since the abysmal 2018 when it was just NES games. 2020 might have also been worse, as I only really remember Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Super Mario All-Stars, and Super Mario 35. But this was like the third-worst year overall, and the worst year for Expansion Pass subscribers, imo.
I still really like the service, but I'm hoping for more in 2025. If we don't get a new platform like GameCube or DS games, then I really hope we get the above-mentioned titles that are still missing, as well as WarioWare: Twisted, Kirby Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby Block Ball, DK '94, DK King of Swing, Super Mario Bros. DX, Mario Party Advance, Mario Golf Advance Tour, Mario Tennis Power Tour, and Mario Pinball Land.
No, please don't try to be edgy again, SEGA. It all starts with giving Shadow a gun in the Sonic movie, and next thing you know, Sonic is kissing human girls again and Knuckles is giving a speech about the brutality of war.
Despite watching The Game Awards by myself, I clapped when this was announced, lol. This was the highlight of the show for me. A little bummed they're only just now starting development though, so maybe it would have been better to wait a year or so before confirming it. But the important thing is, we know it's coming! The original Okami is honestly probably my second-favorite Zelda game...despite not actually being a Zelda game. I got it for dirt cheap in a Switch eShop sale back in like 2018 or 2019 and didn't know what to expect, but I was blown away. I kept thinking the game was wrapping up, but it just kept going with interesting new locales to explore. Such a delight, that game was.
The "oracle" speech just before the GOTY was announced (which was incredible, by the way) and the closing speech by the winners both felt prophetic that Nintendo is going to bring home the trophy next year with one of their Switch 2 launch titles. Despite not having much of a presence this year, it was like an essence of appreciation and respect for Nintendo permeated the whole event. I guess that's what happens when basically every company but them is laying people off in droves and trying to chase dying trends. Makes me proud to support this company.
Looks like it could be fun, I like how each screen looks quite different and isn't just mirroring the same thing. As someone who really enjoyed It Takes Two, there's been lots of similar co-op games shown off at the Game Awards this year, so that's cool.
But man--what's with the pink-haired protagonist with the shaved head and multiple earrings? It's such a generic, "How do you do, fellow Gen-Z?" look to it that's in every game nowadays. Just feels like corporate pandering.
@Spider-Kev You're right. I've been exposed. This whole time I've secretly been a sham. A fraudster. A charlatan. A con artist. My life, a lie. My reputation, ruined. I'l have to go into hiding. I'll have to conceal my identity with a fake name, like maybe... Not_Not_Soos. 🫣
Ah, my bad. Makes sense why Retro hasn't gone under after 10 years of not releasing a game, then. Someone has to pay those employees who have still been coming into work every day. That further illustrates why they really should have bought AlphaDream, before they went bankrupt, though.
I really wish Nintendo would just bite the bullet and purchase Retro Studios, HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems, Good Feel, Game Freak, and the rest of their really close development studios that work almost exclusively for them. In this day and age where corporations keep making acquisitions, Nintendo needs to protect their assets from these poachers.
As others have said, it's a shame Nintendo never purchased Rare when they had the chance. It's also a shame they let AlphaDream die, so who knows what the future of Mario & Luigi will be--if it even has a future now that Sony is poised to acquire its developer. Next Level Games was a worthwhile purchase for the Big N, but why stop there?
I'm not saying Nintendo should buy out all these random studios they have little to no involvement with. But these are purchases that just make all the sense in the world from a business standpoint. Protect what you have, before somebody else snatches them up and steals your talented employees--only to lay them off shortly thereafter because they don't know how to properly manage.
@PessitheMystic That's odd--I can see it just fine on my end. I don't recall speaking on it before. They probably wouldn't actually hire me, but a man can dream, right?
Wish they had an office here in the States so I could work for Intelligent Systems on a new Paper Mario game as a story writer / character designer. Here are some enemy concept designs I came up with a few years ago for a tropical/volcano chapter:
Shout-out to @Snatcher, as I never fully understood how to embed images in a comment on here until I stumbled upon your forum post about it from August that was very straightforward and comprehensive. Sorry mods, but this means I'll get to be even more of a public menace now that I have harnessed the raw power of JPEG files. 😈
@Twilite9 Oh wow, that's awesome. I'm a huge animation enthusiast hoping to break into the industry one day, myself. Maybe someday I'll get to work alongside you.
@awp69 I hear a lot of people say, "Good games don't need remakes as much as games that didn't quite live up to their potential do," so that's exactly what the devs are doing here. They know people were disappointed when this game came out originally, but they really believe in the brand they created and want to change people's hearts by taking another crack at it. I understand why this would rub some people the wrong way, and I don't necessarily blame them. I get why you wouldn't want to pay a second time for an enhanced version of a game you can already play on current-gen hardware that was just kind of middling to begin with. But I have a lot of respect for the developers for saying, "Hey, we know we made some mistakes, but we've learned a lot since then, and we want to set things right." I don't think they're doing this just to be Yooka-Layzee.
I know I recently made a comment about how I'm getting burned out on indie 3D platformers and won't be buying as many of them moving forward, as they often lack the standard of quality I'm looking for. But this is an exception. I'm really, really excited for Yooka-Replaylee. I think this is shaping up to be something truly special.
Mario & Luigi Brothership: 8/10 - Like The Plucky Squire, this game was honestly a bit of a chore to finish. I'm happy this game exists after so many years without an original new Mario RPG with original characters and a story. The trifecta of this, TTYD, and Super Mario RPG will go down as one of the most hype moments of the entire Switch for me.
But, it has a myriad of problems. The story isn't particularly interesting until the final act. Island-hopping and connecting them to the mainland is an awesome concept, but in execution, every island feels very video-gamey and not like a real, lived-in place. A lot of the writing is also cringe and not funny. The music is solid despite not having Yoko Shimomira. The load times between battles and upon entering buildings really bog the game down though. I won't be revisiting this game every couple years like Superstar Saga, I can tell you that.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown: 9/10 - Honestly, I'm not much of a metroidvania guy. The genre frustrates me to no end, as I always end up getting lost and do a lot of tedious backtracking. But like Metroid Dread, this is a rare example of a metroidvania that I was able to complete because it really resonated with me. The game looks absolutely stunning. I can definitely see the Rayman DNA the studio brought to this one. I still found it more tedious than Metroid Dread and don't know if I see myself revisiting it--not even for the DLC--but I had a great time while it lasted.
I haven't played much of Dragon Quest III yet unfortunately, so I won't be reviewing that game. But yeah, otherwise, I think that's pretty much it for my 2024 games!
I hardly touched Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, but that's because it just wasn't compelling to me at all. NES Remix but with the best parts of that game removed. A 7/10 would probably be fair, though.
Overall, I'd give Nintendo, and the games industry as a whole, an 8/10 or B- this year. It could've been better, but I'm perfectly content. A really solid final year before a new console, and 2025 is already lined up to be pretty great as well for the OG Switch.
Princess Peach Showtime: 7/10 - I can appreciate this game as another example of the "Mario Mandates" being lifted. Peach gets her first starring role in almost 20 years, and there's a host of new characters including an original antagonist. The bosses were pretty cool. But, the gameplay is very basic and nothing we haven't seen before. It's a mostly inoffensive game, but it irks me that Nintendo could have asked GoodFeel to a new Wario Land instead. This is possibly the studio's weakest game to date.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: 8.5/10 - Like Princess Peach, Nintendo put one of their female leading ladies in the spotlight, but to better results here. The largest 2D Zelda to date, I couldn't put the game down as I explored the map and met NPC's with unique side quests. Lots of good ideas here that I'm sure will set a new standard moving forward for 2D Zelda. But to address the elephant in the room, the Echoes kind of ruin the combat, imo. I respect that they tried something different, but I don't want hands-off combat like this ever again.
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD: 9/10: I know this is a very generous port for a rather barebones and overpriced port of a game that doesn't even look that much better. But I genuinely enjoy LM2 a lot--more than most people. Yeah, it suffers a bit from the Mario restrictions that were pervasive at the time, and the linearity isn't ideal. But, this game has the most fun and challenging combat in the whole series.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: 9/10 - Again, some may say this is too generous, but I really enjoyed my time with the game. It's great to see a Mario vs DK that doesn't suck again. Sorry, Minis. The game looks gorgeous, and while it's pretty short and can be beaten in a day, I appreciate the extra couoke of worlds they added.
Super Mario Party Jamboree: 9/10 - Part of me wants to give this game a lower score because it's not what I wanted. Like Splatoon 3, I don't think this game needed to exist and could have been DLC. But, I can't deny that I've had a ton of fun with the game. It's not the best Mario Party, and I have my gripes with it. This isn't the strongest selection of minigames we've ever seen, but these are some of the best boards. A great time.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 9.5/10 - A solid remaster, but for as much as it fixes from the original, it also introduces problems unique to this version. The GameCube original is my favorite game of all-time, but I don't know if I can confidently say the remake is the definitive version.
Bakeru: 8/10 - The game is bursting with charm, personality, and whimsy. I loved exploring all the Japanese prefecture and learning new details about Japan. The character designs and world are a visual delight. Tons of content, too--the game just keeps going and going. However, the gameplay gets quite repetitive and tedious after a while.
Penny's Big Breakaway: 8/10 - Similar to Bakeru, it's a delightful world filled with charming characters and creative levels, but there were elements of the gameplay I found a bit tedious and frustrating.
The Plucky Squire: 7.5/10 - Same as Penny's Big Breakaway and The Plucky Squire--delightful visuals that elicit a childlike sense of wonder, but the gameplay is a bit shallow and I really had to force myself to keep playing to the end, despite it being rather short.
Astro Bot: 9/10 - As far as linear 3D platformers go, this one is better than Sackboy and even Super Mario 3D World. Like Smash Bros., it doesn't feel like shameless product placement but a genuine celebration of the games industry. As someone who has played countless 3D platformers, it doesn't do anything I haven't seen multiple times already before (except for the mouse level, which is incredible), but it's still a solid time and one of the year's highlights.
@PokemonDMG Yeah, I know a lot of people have thrown out the idea for a Wario & Waluigi game. I wouldn't be opposed, but I think it's worth noting that Nintendo almost always gives the playable characters in their games a silent role. Luigi talks in Paper Mario because he's just an NPC, but he doesn't get any lines of dialogue in Mario & Luigi games, for example. So in all likelihood, it would be a game where Wario and Waluigi don't talk, which I think would somewhat limit the humor. That's not to say it couldn't still work though, but I'm skeptical. Just let my boys talk, Nintendo!
I finished the Super Mario Sunshine playthrough on my channel, so I've now moved on to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. I actually just finished recording a couple episodes and now it's 7:30 a.m. for me and I need to go to bed, lol.
Since I have an upload schedule of one video a day on Mo-Fri, Jak and Daxter won't be on my channel until sometime next week. However, I will share the link again to the first episode of my Mario Sunshine playthrough since those videos are still coming out:
Not sure which game I'll play after finishing Jak. Maybe you guys can help me decide. Some of the games I'm considering include: A Hat in Time, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, New Super Mario Bros. U, Link's Awakening, and Pikmin 3. I'll get to all of them eventually, I just don't know in what order. If you're interested in one I haven't recommended, by all means let me know.
Other than what I'm doing on my channel, I don't know what other games I'll be playing in my free time, if any. I beat Brothership and Donkey Kong Land III. I don't want to delve into Dragon Quest III so soon after Brothership since it's another turn-based RPG. I'll probably do the Tetris 99 NES event, but otherwise, not sure.
Is it bad that I get more excited over ports and remakes of some of my favorite games than I am hearing about new games, including titles coming exclusively to Switch 2 that I may or may not end up enjoying? 🤷🏼♂️
It would be a bit odd for back-to-back Kirby remakes to release without something original in between, though. I'm surprised we're not getting a new 3D Kirby game that reuses the engine and assets from Forgotten Land first; after all, Planet Robobot only came out a few years after Triple Deluxe, so the time frame for a new game would line up.
Speaking of, it'll be disappointing if we don't get a double-pack including both this game and Triple Deluxe. I'd be fine with both games just being basic upscaled ports for $60, instead of having just one game fully remade from the ground-up at that price. I didn't really like the character outlines in RTDL Deluxe, anyways.
Still waiting on Yoshi's Woolly World and Kid Icarus Uprising though, among others.
Comments 3,765
Re: How Well Do You Remember 2024? Nintendo Life's End-Of-Year Gaming Quiz
I got 11/14. I take issue with a couple of these:
1. The addition of a third-party, multiplatform game like Balatro feels a little unfair to include in a "Nintendo" quiz, in my opinion. If it was a Switch exclusive or published by Nintendo, then sure. But this isn't a game I've followed in the slightest, regardless of popularity. You may as well have asked, "What was the first Fortnite emote they added to the game this year?"
2. For the question about where Switch ranks among Nintendo's best-selling consoles, I think a clear definition of "console" is needed. Since the Switch released, it seems that the lines have blurred, but I always thought a "console" was a dedicated TV system as opposed to a handheld. Ergo, the Nintendo DS was not technically a "console." Is that not the case?
Edit: After reading @Dr_Corndog's comment, which currently has four upvotes, it looks like I'm not alone on this.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (New Year Edition)
I'm almost over being sick, so I just recorded another video of myself playing Mario Party online. It's currently uploading and should be live in about an hour at the link here: https://youtu.be/K-658k-qEHw?si=ISAjud8AaW2tgZaP
I recently wrapped up my New Super Mario Bros. U playthrough on my channel and will be starting a new game. Not sure which one I'll do next, though. I've been promising people that Zelda is coming soon, but I'm not sure if I'm feeling it this week. I've really been itching to replay A Hat in Time, so that might be my first series of 2025, with Link's Awakening coming at a later date.
Re: Antonblast Receives Update On Switch With Performance Boost To 60fps
I don't have a problem with games that are essentially "clones" of other games, but I prefer playing the source material before playing the games it inspired. So, I'm holding off on playing Anton Blast or Pizza Tower at least until I've had a chance to play Wario Land 4. If you want to release that on NSO one day soon, Nintendo, that'd be pretty swell.
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
@Rhum17 Thanks so much friend, I greatly appreciate the kind words! I think the majority of people on this site are pretty understanding and it's rare that I'm met with hostility like I was last Christmas. At the time though, that one incident was enough to make me feel like I was just done with this site, but my feelings changed after a day or two and I'm glad I stuck around. Comments like yours motivate me to keep making posts. It always means a lot to know they resonate with somebody. This is a good community.
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
@DipperMisterioPines Whoa, hey, Dipper, dude! It's me, Soos! Heheh, fancy seeing you here, dude. Me and Toby Determined are gonna go FCLORP-ing later if you wanna join us. TO MY GRANDMA'S BACKYAAARD!
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
Also, @Arkay @Kienda, it's nice to see other people of faith in the Nintendo Life comments! It seems that people are finally getting comfortable expressing their religion again, which makes me happy. For a while, it felt like everybody was jusy expected to sweep it under the rug. God bless the both of you! And everybody else--whether you're Christian or not, I hope you'll at least appreciate the gesture that you're in my prayers.
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
@Tyranexx
I think what rubbed people the wrong way about my comment, for whatever reason, is that I ended it with, "Am I a good uncle or what? 😁" Apparently to them, that's conceited, like I was trying to put everybody else down as lesser or something. I really don't get it.
When people got on my case about it, I explained how I just want to do what I can for him considering his parents are divorced, and how I just want to be a positive influence in his life unlike one of my uncles who was a terrible person. One NL user responded that by being unwilling to see what was wrong with my initial comment, I'm displaying a lack of maturity and needed to grow up.
Also, he said he never asked for me to divulge about my family's trauma and that doing so was unnecessary and unhinged of me, basically. No sympathy whatsoever, just cold and heartless. That's the only time I've ever blocked anybody on this site.
I'll never understand how anybody could be so miserable. May they get the help they so desperately need. I guess the responsibility is on me to not take the random words of an internet stranger to heart, but I'm a sensitive person, I'll admit. Thank you for the kind words.
And thanks to @Arkay as well. I appreciate you all for the positive sentiment!
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
By the way, for those who are interested, I'm currently uploading a special Christmas video to my channel, where I play through various winter-themed Switch levels. The video won't be done processing for some time, as it's a long one, but here's the link for when it goes live! https://youtu.be/ANd15sN1emg
Edit: The video is now live!
I made a custom thumbnail for it too, whereas usually I just go with one of YouTube's randomly-generated screenshots from the episode. I took a graphic design class as an elective in college a few years ago, but I don't remember much from it, lol. So, my Photoshop skills aren't the best, but... it's something! I also made a custom thumbnail for yesterday's video where I react to a weird Chick Fil-A animated series that has nothing to do with chicken. I'd like to start making more custom thumbnails moving forward.
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
@Yalloo Thank you.
Re: Editorial: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From All Of Us At Nintendo Life
Last year, I shared how I bought my little nephew a Zelda-edition 3DS XL for Christmas, and people on this site called me a narcissist fishing for likes for some reason. That was really hurtful, not gonna lie. So yeah, Merry Christmas to everybody except for those Grinches and Scrooges who think it's okay to tear people down for no reason, especially during the holidays--I hope Santa left a big stinky in your stocking this year.
At the risk of sounding like even more of an egotistical sociopath than last year, I bought my nephew the Deku Tree LEGO set, which was the present he wanted more than anything else. Everywhere was sold out, so I had to pay an extra hundred bucks to get one off eBay. In all, it cost me over $400, but watching him elatedly put the set together over the course of what will probably be several weeks makes it all worth it. I'd do anything to put a smile on that kid's face. I truly am the scum of the earth, huh?
Re: 'Nintendo Music' Adds Super Mario 64 Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
@VHSGREMLIN Wait, what's the sticky brown stuff? I have no idea what this means. 😂
Re: 'Nintendo Music' Adds Super Mario 64 Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
@StewdaMegaManNerd SNES and N64 still had some bangers in their soundtracks. Me not liking either of those water tracks has nothing to do with the limitations of the hardware they were composed for; I'm just not crazy about either of those melodies. I still adore Koji Kondo and David Wise's music, though. They're my two favorite composers except for Yoko Shimomura.
Re: 'Nintendo Music' Adds Super Mario 64 Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
@VHSGREMLIN Heritics like myself are never appreciated in our time, but like Martin Luther when he nailed his grievances to the church door, I'll be remembered fondly in history.
Re: 'Nintendo Music' Adds Super Mario 64 Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
@CRB1984 Sounds like you're discussing moderation... mods, you know what to do. (Jk.)
Re: Multiple Cartoon Network Games Have Been Removed From The Switch eShop
First Max got rid of their Cartoon Network shows, and now their games are being pulled. What's up with this Cartoon Network erasure all of a sudden?
It's no real loss outside of the Samurai Jack game, although I never finished it because I personally didn't love it despite the overwhelmingly positive reception. I know about the ending, though; at least that made up for the absolutely terrible way the show ended.
All Cartoon Network really has going for it anymore is MultiVersus, but even then, the representation isn't that great and the game apparently hasn't been doing very well, which is a shame. Hopefully, they'll get their crap together eventually. #MCNGA (Make Cartoon Network Great Again.)
At least Youtooz is making a Chowder figure. That has me excited. There's also Finn and Jake ones coming soon, but they don't look all that great so I'll probably pass on those.
Re: 'Nintendo Music' Adds Super Mario 64 Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
I woke up today and decided to choose violence.
DIRE DIRE DOCKS IS OVERRATED!
SO IS AQUATIC AMBIENCE FROM DKC!
Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (Christmas 2024 Edition)
Well, I played a round of Mario Party online with randos last night and uploaded it to my channel. My controller randomly stopped working at the end of a Jamboree Buddy minigame, so you get to watch me rage on camera:
https://youtu.be/jfk3TTVulGY?si=DP4WEdNwwN-QSdBQ
I also just recently finished playing through New Super Mario Bros. U on the channel--I'll link the first episode here:
https://youtu.be/P0WAj9dFkwc?si=y_0SpEqGvo3zcgXy
I'm not sure if I'll record anything else this weekend, as I'm battling a cold right now. But when I feel better, I'll record my next series, which will probably be either A Hat in Time, Link's Awakening, or Super Mario Bros. 2, but that could change.
Outside of the channel, I'm playing through Pokémon X for the first time. I've never been a big Pokémon fan, but I loved Arceus, so now I'm going back and trying to give the older games a chance.
Re: Random: Mario Galaxy Returns Next Year In "The Biggest Super Mario Odyssey Mod Yet"
...Okay, now that I've actually looked at it, this looks sick! Some parts are a little more rough around the edges than others, but on the whole, this is what I would expect from a Galaxy remaster. Maybe someday we'll get what Super Mario 3D All-Stars SHOULD have been... with Galaxy 2 included, to boot.
Unfortunately, this does look like something Nintendo would shut down, though. If you make something original, they're unlikely to mess with it. But a direct recreation of one of their games? That they're not too keen on.
Re: Random: Mario Galaxy Returns Next Year In "The Biggest Super Mario Odyssey Mod Yet"
Why would you play with my heart like this 😢
Re: Sonic The Hedgehog Will Be Back For A Fourth Movie
I really thought they were going to end with the trilogy, until news started surfacing that the movie was going to have another post-credits scene. I saw the leaked post-credits scene online because I just couldn't help myself. I won't spoil it for anyone else, but it certainly makes it entertaining to read the speculation in the comments.
It's also hilarious how Jim Carrey kept saying he was retiring, and now all of a sudden he's like, "I actually like doing sequels now, maybe someday I will do another Grinch or The Mask movie," lol.
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For The Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Movie
I'm beginning to question whether IGN actually likes anything, lol.
Re: Your 'Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024' Stats Are Available Now
@OorWullie The list probably isn't accurate. If you ever bought a new Switch like an OLED and transferred all your data, it still resets the internal play time to zero. So, if you played Mario Kart 8 for 200 hours, transferred your data to a new system, and then played Hello Kitty Island Adventure for five minutes, Hello Kitty would be on top and Mario Kart would be on the bottom.
I think the Switch also starts erasing old play times after a certain amount of time has elapsed. I remember checking my play time for Breath of the Wild and watching it decrease day by day, as it just starts deleting the oldest records after a few years. It's really weird, shortsighted, and annoying.
I actually got up with Nintendo's customer support about it a few years ago. They actually took it really seriously, as I kept getting calls from Nintendo over the next several months asking additional questions to get a better understanding of the situation. Someone at Nintendo HQ was actively troubleshooting this. But eventually, they stopped contacting me, and we never got a firmware update that addressed this.
So yeah, your play time is likely very misleading.
Re: Your 'Nintendo Switch Year In Review 2024' Stats Are Available Now
Yesss, finally! My OCD brain lives for this stuff.
I played 77 different Switch games this year for a total playtime of 958 hours.
This actually seems less than most other years but I've started playing quite a bit of 3DS again and also have a PS5 now.
My three most-played games were:
1. Disney Speedstorm - 90 hrs.
2. Hogwarts Legacy - 73 hrs.
3. Nintendo Switch Online: N64 - 69 hrs.
I fell off hard from Disney Speedstorm as the monetization has gotten ridiculous, but it was a lot of fun for a while.
My most-played month was in May, in which I logged 132 total hours.
My favorite game of 2024 was Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
Re: New Capcom Survey Wants To Know Your Thoughts About MvC Fighting Collection
I don't care about Marvel vs. Capcom, but I just wanna say how great it is these gaming companies really seem to be taking fan feedback to heart. I don't care what anybody says--this is the best time to be a gamer.
Capcom is bringing back Okami and potentially a slew of other titles like Mega Man or maybe Viewtiful Joe, localizing the Japanese-exclusive Ace Attorney games, etc.
Namco is remastering Pac-Man World, Klonoa, the Tales Of series, Baten Kaitos, and Katamari.
SEGA is remastering and releasing new games in franchises such as Sonic, Monkey Ball, and Samba de Amigo that are actually GOOD, with more on the way like Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Golden Axe.
Ubisoft is bringing back the Rayman IP.
A new Ninja Gaiden just got announced.
Crash and Spyro got beautiful HD trilogies. SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom was remastered, with both it and Crash Bandicoot getting a brand-new entry this gen.
All the classic Tomb Raider games are getting remastered.
The Mario Mandates have listed and RPG's are finally back!
Metroid Prime 4 is on the cusp of releasing.
We got our first 3D Kirby game, our first nonlinear Pokémon and Sonic games, our first (and second) open-world Zelda games, and our first sandbox 3D Mario game after 15 years.
Smash Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 have insane amounts of content and are objectively the definitive games in their respective franchises.
Mario Party is great again.
2017 to now has been PEAK gaming. Nothing comes close to this. It doesn't matter how many F2P games with microtransactions and AI art are out there; if that's all you feel like you see nowadays, you're living under a rock.
I just hope Sony follows suit after the success of Astrobot and brings back Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ape Escape and other classic franchises. And, of course, Microsoft needs to revive Rare titles like Banjo and Konker, but NSO is a start at least.
I feel really, really positive about the years ahead as a gamer. It's easy to take for granted, but in 2016, so many of my dream game announcements felt like nothing more than pipe dreams. But flash forward less than a decade later, and I've probably had more than 30 seemingly "impossible" wishes come true!
It's amazing what can happen when developers actually LISTEN. Hollywood has also been very tone-deaf toward consumer interests, but I think diminishing returns and the ease of being able to see what audiences actually are looking for via social media will soon change that. Look how Into the Spiderverse has had such an overwhelmingly positive impact on CG-animated movies.
The future is bright for gamers.
Re: Poll: Box Art Brawl - Duel: Okami
If I'm being objective, the Japanese one is probably better. But personally, I think I like Amaterasu's pose on the Western one more. Blue is also my favorite color, so that background is aesthetically pleasing to me, but the cherry blossom trees are much more representative of the game itself.
I guess I vote begrudgingly for Japan.
Re: Capcom Intends To Continue "Re-Activating Dormant IPs"
I've never been a big Mega Man fan, but I would very much like to try the Legends games someday, whether remakes or ports of the originals. A 3D take on the franchise might be what finally gets me into the series.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (14th December)
Currently playing through New Super Mario Bros. U on my channel. The first episode won't be up until next week, but here's the link to my most recent YouTube series, Jak and Daxter:
https://youtu.be/bEYyB98t2OQ?si=r8G0uiIE6CsXevs5
There's a lot of games that recently got DLC I want to dip back into, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do that as well. Astrobot, Disney Speedstorm, Sonic x Shadow Generations.
Otherwise, I started a new file on Yoshi's Island DS as I haven't played that game in probably well over a decade and wanted to see what I would think of it after all these years. I'm starting on World 3. Some of the bosses are pretty neat, but otherwise, the game is kind of forgettable so far.
Having the gameplay spread across both screens is kind of annoying, as sometimes you can't see collectibles or enemies because they're hiding in the midsection between the two screens. The baby-swapping mechanic (that's a weird thing to say) doesn't add much depth either, as switching between them is always mandatory and it's super obvious which one you need, so it's not like there's a lot of experimentation or customization going on.
Re: The Game Awards GOTY For 2024 Is Astro Bot
@ThatOneSneak Yeah, and I'm sure Geoff Keighley had to sign off on that speech, too. Y'know, people can say what they want about Geoff being a sellout, a shill, the Game Awards being rigged, etc. But not only did he give the thumbs-up on that speech, he also had the whole "game changer" segment highlighting the guy helping laid-off game developers find work, and a couple years ago when the ActiVision sexual harassment allegations came out, he gave a pretty strong condemnation and message of solidarity to those in the industry who have been effected.
I think he's honestly a good dude, regardless of what people say. He always shines a spotlight on diverse talents at his show, like honoring one of the first female programmers, highlighting games from cultures that often go underrepresented in the gaming space, and giving acclaim to games that shine a light on disabilities and terminal illnesses.
Re: 2024 Has Been The Busiest Year Yet For Nintendo Switch Online In North America
Yeah, the output of NSO games has been pretty solid this year, but I feel like there weren't as many heavy-hitters. Some big ones that come to mind are Metroid: Zero Mission, Four Swords, Donkey Kong Land I-III, the Starfy series, Super Mario Land, Mario Tennis/Golf GBC, and Banjo-Tooie.
But the majority of these games are short experiences that can be beaten in just a couple hours. This year's lineup pales in comparison to the first year of N64 when we got Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Paper Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, Kirby 64, all those initial Genesis games, Animal Crossing Happy Home DLC, etc. I'd argue the launch years for SNES and GB/GBA NSO were also better.
The weaker lineup this year isn't just because we didn't get a new platform added this year though, as there are still many more quality games they can put on the service. I can't believe it's taking this long to get Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Smash Bros. It's been three years now. It's also frustrating we don't have the other Wario Land games yet.
This was a good year for NSO when it comes to archiving games that are historically important but not necessarily ones that people are dying to play, like Mach Rider and Donkey Kong Jr. Math. I can appreciate they're on the service for preservation purposes, but they're more of a novelty than anything. There was also no big DLC expansion, since the Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pass already wrapped up in 2023. Not even the Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC was included.
So yeah, I appreciate the output, as it didn't feel like we were waiting for ages for something new to drop. But this year probably had the least-compelling additions to the service since the abysmal 2018 when it was just NES games. 2020 might have also been worse, as I only really remember Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Super Mario All-Stars, and Super Mario 35. But this was like the third-worst year overall, and the worst year for Expansion Pass subscribers, imo.
I still really like the service, but I'm hoping for more in 2025. If we don't get a new platform like GameCube or DS games, then I really hope we get the above-mentioned titles that are still missing, as well as WarioWare: Twisted, Kirby Nightmare in Dream Land, Kirby Block Ball, DK '94, DK King of Swing, Super Mario Bros. DX, Mario Party Advance, Mario Golf Advance Tour, Mario Tennis Power Tour, and Mario Pinball Land.
Re: Sega President Talks Reviving Video Game "Rock & Roll" To Contrast Nintendo's "Pop Music"
No, please don't try to be edgy again, SEGA. It all starts with giving Shadow a gun in the Sonic movie, and next thing you know, Sonic is kissing human girls again and Knuckles is giving a speech about the brutality of war.
Re: Okami Sequel Announced, Will Be Directed By Hideki Kamiya
Despite watching The Game Awards by myself, I clapped when this was announced, lol. This was the highlight of the show for me. A little bummed they're only just now starting development though, so maybe it would have been better to wait a year or so before confirming it. But the important thing is, we know it's coming! The original Okami is honestly probably my second-favorite Zelda game...despite not actually being a Zelda game. I got it for dirt cheap in a Switch eShop sale back in like 2018 or 2019 and didn't know what to expect, but I was blown away. I kept thinking the game was wrapping up, but it just kept going with interesting new locales to explore. Such a delight, that game was.
Re: The Game Awards GOTY For 2024 Is Astro Bot
The "oracle" speech just before the GOTY was announced (which was incredible, by the way) and the closing speech by the winners both felt prophetic that Nintendo is going to bring home the trophy next year with one of their Switch 2 launch titles. Despite not having much of a presence this year, it was like an essence of appreciation and respect for Nintendo permeated the whole event. I guess that's what happens when basically every company but them is laying people off in droves and trying to chase dying trends. Makes me proud to support this company.
Re: Overcooked Dev Is Teaming Up With Hello Games For More Couch-Co-Op Chaos In 'Stage Fright'
Looks like it could be fun, I like how each screen looks quite different and isn't just mirroring the same thing. As someone who really enjoyed It Takes Two, there's been lots of similar co-op games shown off at the Game Awards this year, so that's cool.
But man--what's with the pink-haired protagonist with the shaved head and multiple earrings? It's such a generic, "How do you do, fellow Gen-Z?" look to it that's in every game nowadays. Just feels like corporate pandering.
Re: Bandai Namco Unveils New Pac-Man Game, And It's Probably Not What You Expect
This... this is not Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac.
If this is all we're getting for Pac-Man's 45th anniversary, I'll be devastated.
Re: Random: Did You Know About The Korean Version Of Super Mario Bros. Super Show?
@Spider-Kev You're right. I've been exposed. This whole time I've secretly been a sham. A fraudster. A charlatan. A con artist. My life, a lie. My reputation, ruined. I'l have to go into hiding. I'll have to conceal my identity with a fake name, like maybe... Not_Not_Soos. 🫣
Re: Random: Did You Know About The Korean Version Of Super Mario Bros. Super Show?
@shiftbarackyeaugh Unless you're me, in which case every comment needs to be an essay. 😉
Re: Nintendo Now Officially Owns 100% Of Monolith Soft
@Arkay @Duncanballs @martynstuff
Ah, my bad. Makes sense why Retro hasn't gone under after 10 years of not releasing a game, then. Someone has to pay those employees who have still been coming into work every day. That further illustrates why they really should have bought AlphaDream, before they went bankrupt, though.
Re: Nintendo Now Officially Owns 100% Of Monolith Soft
I really wish Nintendo would just bite the bullet and purchase Retro Studios, HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems, Good Feel, Game Freak, and the rest of their really close development studios that work almost exclusively for them. In this day and age where corporations keep making acquisitions, Nintendo needs to protect their assets from these poachers.
As others have said, it's a shame Nintendo never purchased Rare when they had the chance. It's also a shame they let AlphaDream die, so who knows what the future of Mario & Luigi will be--if it even has a future now that Sony is poised to acquire its developer. Next Level Games was a worthwhile purchase for the Big N, but why stop there?
I'm not saying Nintendo should buy out all these random studios they have little to no involvement with. But these are purchases that just make all the sense in the world from a business standpoint. Protect what you have, before somebody else snatches them up and steals your talented employees--only to lay them off shortly thereafter because they don't know how to properly manage.
Re: Looks Like Fire Emblem & Paper Mario Dev Intelligent Systems Is Hiring
@PessitheMystic That's odd--I can see it just fine on my end. I don't recall speaking on it before. They probably wouldn't actually hire me, but a man can dream, right?
Re: Looks Like Fire Emblem & Paper Mario Dev Intelligent Systems Is Hiring
Wish they had an office here in the States so I could work for Intelligent Systems on a new Paper Mario game as a story writer / character designer. Here are some enemy concept designs I came up with a few years ago for a tropical/volcano chapter:
Shout-out to @Snatcher, as I never fully understood how to embed images in a comment on here until I stumbled upon your forum post about it from August that was very straightforward and comprehensive. Sorry mods, but this means I'll get to be even more of a public menace now that I have harnessed the raw power of JPEG files. 😈
Re: LEGO Fortnite Reveals GTA And Sims-Style Social Roleplaying Game Mode
This actually looks really, really cool! Not sure why this is even considered a part of Fortnite at this point, but I want to check it out.
Re: Random: Metroid Prime 3 Dev Left Retro Studios After "Unhealthy Relationship" With Nintendo Micromanagement
@Twilite9 Oh wow, that's awesome. I'm a huge animation enthusiast hoping to break into the industry one day, myself. Maybe someday I'll get to work alongside you.
Re: Video: Yooka-Replaylee Dev Demo Highlights "New Features And More Changes"
@awp69 I hear a lot of people say, "Good games don't need remakes as much as games that didn't quite live up to their potential do," so that's exactly what the devs are doing here. They know people were disappointed when this game came out originally, but they really believe in the brand they created and want to change people's hearts by taking another crack at it. I understand why this would rub some people the wrong way, and I don't necessarily blame them. I get why you wouldn't want to pay a second time for an enhanced version of a game you can already play on current-gen hardware that was just kind of middling to begin with. But I have a lot of respect for the developers for saying, "Hey, we know we made some mistakes, but we've learned a lot since then, and we want to set things right." I don't think they're doing this just to be Yooka-Layzee.
Re: Video: Yooka-Replaylee Dev Demo Highlights "New Features And More Changes"
I know I recently made a comment about how I'm getting burned out on indie 3D platformers and won't be buying as many of them moving forward, as they often lack the standard of quality I'm looking for. But this is an exception. I'm really, really excited for Yooka-Replaylee. I think this is shaping up to be something truly special.
Re: Rate Your Favourite Switch Games Of The Year 2024
PART 3
Mario & Luigi Brothership: 8/10 - Like The Plucky Squire, this game was honestly a bit of a chore to finish. I'm happy this game exists after so many years without an original new Mario RPG with original characters and a story. The trifecta of this, TTYD, and Super Mario RPG will go down as one of the most hype moments of the entire Switch for me.
But, it has a myriad of problems. The story isn't particularly interesting until the final act. Island-hopping and connecting them to the mainland is an awesome concept, but in execution, every island feels very video-gamey and not like a real, lived-in place. A lot of the writing is also cringe and not funny. The music is solid despite not having Yoko Shimomira. The load times between battles and upon entering buildings really bog the game down though. I won't be revisiting this game every couple years like Superstar Saga, I can tell you that.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown: 9/10 - Honestly, I'm not much of a metroidvania guy. The genre frustrates me to no end, as I always end up getting lost and do a lot of tedious backtracking. But like Metroid Dread, this is a rare example of a metroidvania that I was able to complete because it really resonated with me. The game looks absolutely stunning. I can definitely see the Rayman DNA the studio brought to this one. I still found it more tedious than Metroid Dread and don't know if I see myself revisiting it--not even for the DLC--but I had a great time while it lasted.
I haven't played much of Dragon Quest III yet unfortunately, so I won't be reviewing that game. But yeah, otherwise, I think that's pretty much it for my 2024 games!
I hardly touched Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, but that's because it just wasn't compelling to me at all. NES Remix but with the best parts of that game removed. A 7/10 would probably be fair, though.
Overall, I'd give Nintendo, and the games industry as a whole, an 8/10 or B- this year. It could've been better, but I'm perfectly content. A really solid final year before a new console, and 2025 is already lined up to be pretty great as well for the OG Switch.
Re: Rate Your Favourite Switch Games Of The Year 2024
PART 2:
Princess Peach Showtime: 7/10 - I can appreciate this game as another example of the "Mario Mandates" being lifted. Peach gets her first starring role in almost 20 years, and there's a host of new characters including an original antagonist. The bosses were pretty cool. But, the gameplay is very basic and nothing we haven't seen before. It's a mostly inoffensive game, but it irks me that Nintendo could have asked GoodFeel to a new Wario Land instead. This is possibly the studio's weakest game to date.
Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: 8.5/10 - Like Princess Peach, Nintendo put one of their female leading ladies in the spotlight, but to better results here. The largest 2D Zelda to date, I couldn't put the game down as I explored the map and met NPC's with unique side quests. Lots of good ideas here that I'm sure will set a new standard moving forward for 2D Zelda. But to address the elephant in the room, the Echoes kind of ruin the combat, imo. I respect that they tried something different, but I don't want hands-off combat like this ever again.
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD: 9/10: I know this is a very generous port for a rather barebones and overpriced port of a game that doesn't even look that much better. But I genuinely enjoy LM2 a lot--more than most people. Yeah, it suffers a bit from the Mario restrictions that were pervasive at the time, and the linearity isn't ideal. But, this game has the most fun and challenging combat in the whole series.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: 9/10 - Again, some may say this is too generous, but I really enjoyed my time with the game. It's great to see a Mario vs DK that doesn't suck again. Sorry, Minis. The game looks gorgeous, and while it's pretty short and can be beaten in a day, I appreciate the extra couoke of worlds they added.
Super Mario Party Jamboree: 9/10 - Part of me wants to give this game a lower score because it's not what I wanted. Like Splatoon 3, I don't think this game needed to exist and could have been DLC. But, I can't deny that I've had a ton of fun with the game. It's not the best Mario Party, and I have my gripes with it. This isn't the strongest selection of minigames we've ever seen, but these are some of the best boards. A great time.
Re: Rate Your Favourite Switch Games Of The Year 2024
PART 1:
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 9.5/10 - A solid remaster, but for as much as it fixes from the original, it also introduces problems unique to this version. The GameCube original is my favorite game of all-time, but I don't know if I can confidently say the remake is the definitive version.
Bakeru: 8/10 - The game is bursting with charm, personality, and whimsy. I loved exploring all the Japanese prefecture and learning new details about Japan. The character designs and world are a visual delight. Tons of content, too--the game just keeps going and going. However, the gameplay gets quite repetitive and tedious after a while.
Penny's Big Breakaway: 8/10 - Similar to Bakeru, it's a delightful world filled with charming characters and creative levels, but there were elements of the gameplay I found a bit tedious and frustrating.
The Plucky Squire: 7.5/10 - Same as Penny's Big Breakaway and The Plucky Squire--delightful visuals that elicit a childlike sense of wonder, but the gameplay is a bit shallow and I really had to force myself to keep playing to the end, despite it being rather short.
Astro Bot: 9/10 - As far as linear 3D platformers go, this one is better than Sackboy and even Super Mario 3D World. Like Smash Bros., it doesn't feel like shameless product placement but a genuine celebration of the games industry. As someone who has played countless 3D platformers, it doesn't do anything I haven't seen multiple times already before (except for the mouse level, which is incredible), but it's still a solid time and one of the year's highlights.
Re: Random: Nintendo And Acquire Brainstormed "Over" 100 Subtitles For Mario & Luigi: Brothership
@PokemonDMG Yeah, I know a lot of people have thrown out the idea for a Wario & Waluigi game. I wouldn't be opposed, but I think it's worth noting that Nintendo almost always gives the playable characters in their games a silent role. Luigi talks in Paper Mario because he's just an NPC, but he doesn't get any lines of dialogue in Mario & Luigi games, for example. So in all likelihood, it would be a game where Wario and Waluigi don't talk, which I think would somewhat limit the humor. That's not to say it couldn't still work though, but I'm skeptical. Just let my boys talk, Nintendo!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (7th December)
I finished the Super Mario Sunshine playthrough on my channel, so I've now moved on to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. I actually just finished recording a couple episodes and now it's 7:30 a.m. for me and I need to go to bed, lol.
Since I have an upload schedule of one video a day on Mo-Fri, Jak and Daxter won't be on my channel until sometime next week. However, I will share the link again to the first episode of my Mario Sunshine playthrough since those videos are still coming out:
https://youtu.be/FpJXRr42GxY?si=2hpr7mv9_nnSrbbY
Not sure which game I'll play after finishing Jak. Maybe you guys can help me decide. Some of the games I'm considering include: A Hat in Time, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, New Super Mario Bros. U, Link's Awakening, and Pikmin 3. I'll get to all of them eventually, I just don't know in what order. If you're interested in one I haven't recommended, by all means let me know.
Other than what I'm doing on my channel, I don't know what other games I'll be playing in my free time, if any. I beat Brothership and Donkey Kong Land III. I don't want to delve into Dragon Quest III so soon after Brothership since it's another turn-based RPG. I'll probably do the Tetris 99 NES event, but otherwise, not sure.
Re: Rumour: One Of Kirby's 3DS Titles Will Return Next Year, It's Claimed
Is it bad that I get more excited over ports and remakes of some of my favorite games than I am hearing about new games, including titles coming exclusively to Switch 2 that I may or may not end up enjoying? 🤷🏼♂️
It would be a bit odd for back-to-back Kirby remakes to release without something original in between, though. I'm surprised we're not getting a new 3D Kirby game that reuses the engine and assets from Forgotten Land first; after all, Planet Robobot only came out a few years after Triple Deluxe, so the time frame for a new game would line up.
Speaking of, it'll be disappointing if we don't get a double-pack including both this game and Triple Deluxe. I'd be fine with both games just being basic upscaled ports for $60, instead of having just one game fully remade from the ground-up at that price. I didn't really like the character outlines in RTDL Deluxe, anyways.
Still waiting on Yoshi's Woolly World and Kid Icarus Uprising though, among others.