Rudolf

@Not_Soos I kinda agree with the fact that Super Mario World was inspired on Super Mario Bros 3... but in other hand, I kinda disagree a little. Actually, Super Mario World introduced some innovations that were quite revolutionary. Contrary to SMB3, in SMW:

• we could save our game, so no need to try again from the very beginning nor using warpzones or flutes;
• it was entirely non linear, so that we can play again each stage as much as we want, whereas in SMB3, if we go to another world, their stages become unreachable;
• a sense of exploration that was greatly increased, with a lot of alternative routes, and even hidden hardcore stages that were not necessary to do, so that the game invited the player to finish it at 100%.

At that time, that was not especially common, in 16 bits platformers, even after this game was released.

On the contrary, Super Mario Sunshine, although I prefer this game than Super Mario 64, was not really revolutionary. Perhaps we could say each stage was like a part of an isle, so we could feel some unity in that world, contrary to Super Mario 64 whose stages were totally disconnected. And Super Mario Sunshine added more narration, so more linearity than Super Mario 64, because almost each Shine couldn't be gotten without getting the previous ones.

@FX29 Just a question of getting used to that "bumping gameplay", but it works surprisingly very well. And if we considerer the age of this game, it was quite common on that age: Hydlide, The Tower of Druaga, Xanadu, Dragon Slayer, Popful Mail (PC-88/98 versions)...

I already purchased and completed both Ys games on PC with EGG, but it is a shame that I have to pay again if I want to play it again on Switch's EGG (unless I'm wrong).

Anyway, I consider both original PC-88 versions better than PC Engine versions (especially the soundtrack that is better on PC-88 with FM's sound and a more balanced gameplay). But the Chronicles versions are the best ones (although it doesn't prevent me playing again the original versions regularily for a more authentic experience).

@JohnnyMind Yes, I understand and I agree. I also prefer reading physical books. But when I'm reading very long series like Detective Conan in Japanese (I'm reading the 18th volume), I can't import 104 volumes from Japan, so: 仕方ない, no other choice, like we say. ^^

I can also synchronise my devices, so when I begin reading on my PC, I can continue the reading on the go with my smartphone (even when taking the bus or tramway, or when waiting inside my car before going to my job, and vice versa.

So, this is indeed a very good alternative choice to me. But sometimes, when I go to Paris for example (one time by year at most), I can go to some shops and purchase some imported books or manga in Japanese that are not long series (like "Uzumaki" from Junji Itô).

@JohnnyMind You're welcome. This website (as well as Book Live and Book Walker) is convenient because no Japanese credit card, VPN or Japanese adress are required. So I'm buying and reading a lot of things there, because I can't import everything.

@JohnnyMind Thank you for your advice. I see this manga is available in digital Japanese version on Honto: I am considering of giving it a try.

I don't understand why The Wind Waker HD was'nt considered as a remake contrary to Ocarina of Time 3D and Majora's Mask 3D. TWW HD was also "totally revised, remodelled, and rebuilt from the ground up" though.

Anyway, I don't particularily like some remakes of the top, like Majora's Mask 3D (Ocarina of Time 3D is just OK), Link's Awakening Switch, or Super Mario All-Stars.

Famicom Tantei Club was a great remake (there was also a very good remake of the second game on SNES), though not having included the third game is a pity.

And Metroid Prime on Switch is missing.

@mereel Me too. A new Disaster game would be great (I really liked the game on Wii).

Why not? I have already heard about this game (and the Xanadu series) and it seems interesting.

@dew12333 I think Momotaro's series is too linked to Japanese language and their culture of trains they love, to be played easily by Western people.

A sequel for Disaster: Day of Crisis?

I chose 2 games I never played (that's why): Goemon and Ogre Battle 64.

By the way:

" Rocket: Robot on Wheels won't win any awards for narrative genius or originality"

I disagree: Rocket: Robot on Wheels was an innovative game, even today, because this is one of those very rare games with a real physics engine that affects gameplay. Anyway, it was a great game.

Anyway, when I played Skyward Sword on Wii, I noticed the common points with Oracle of Seasons/Ages and Minish Cap:

• open air environments that look like dungeons;
• the magic jar that can suck or blow many things (inspired on classical Chinese tales);
• the main city that has a true level-design with many secrets and that is very lively (best cities of the series are in Minish Cap and Skyward Sword);
• the sky world in Minish Cap (and before in Four Swords that was also directed by Mr. Fujibayashi);
• the seed we planted in the past and becomes a big tree giving us fruits in present time.

And about Tears of the Kingdom, when we discovered a subterranean world, I immediately thought about Subrosia's underworld in Oracle of Seasons as well.

Among those games, I played... absolutely nothing in 2023! XD
The game I played the most in 2023 is Harvestella: more than 105 hours, and I still didn't finished it. This is also my GOTY 2023 (although it was released at end 2022).

Is it because of Sakurai's refusal that there is no port, remaster or remake of Kid Icarus Uprising?

I completed the demo and really enjoyed it. Some drawbacks though:

• I wished we could use touchscreen to interact with items and select some dialog choices;
• I wished we could use gyroscope to move the DAS's camera or some items we examine (gyroscope is used for one puzzle in the demo though);
• I wished we could really move at the first person view without DAS's view (the camera is too close to the character at the 3rd person view) and that we could interact with different things at first person view.

Nevertheless, I appreciated the graphics, character design and Japanese dubbing. I also like the fact we can save and continue when the game is released. We have also a log allowing us to listen again to old dialogs and read their transcription, which is pretty neat for a Japanese learner like me. I think I'll buy this game.

I never played the original DS and Wii versions: what are the differences with this Switch remake?

Good news! I think we can expect other Rare games like Banjo-Tooie, Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Perfect Dark (I'm not sure about Conker's Bad Fur Day). And Super Smash Bros 64 as remaining Nintendo games.
Since there are other Treasure games on NSO, we might expect some other games like Mischief Makers and Bangai-O.
And perhaps Dôbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) as Japan exclusive?

Then... I don't know. I'd like to have Rayman 2, Ogre Battle 64, Shadowgate 64, Star Wars games, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Wonder Project J2, or some Konami games like Castlevania or Goemon games, but it seems hard to believe.

@JohnnyMind If you are still interested: Mameda no Bakeru is now available (I just ordered it).

I ranked Color Splash as number 1 along with Paper Mario 64 (and Partners in Time as the worst, although I didn't play Paper Jam, Origami King or Rabbids).

I can advise an interesting challenge: the Water Temple without getting the Zora tunic.
And more interesting and challenging: the Fire Temple without getting the Goron tunic (especially the fight against the dragon that becomes time limited).

In that case, the more we have hearts, longer we can survive the heat or the drowning.

I enjoyed this challenge.

Holy *****! I wouldn't have expected that game, but I am very happy because this is one of my favourite Rareware games! Excellent gameplay with very memorable boss fights, a great sense of exploration with beautiful stages, and an incredible soundtrack composed by Robin Beanland.

13/15. I failed on questions 6 and 13.

I already own a Japanese physical version, but this is good news. I really love this game. One of the best Metroidvania I ever played. I even did an entire 100% second loop and appreciated the boss whose attacks changed (so they became stronger than in first loop). I didn't try the boss rush though.

Speaking of that, I can also highly recommend Harvestella whose developer (Live Wire) is one of the two that developed Ender Lilies. A very surprising RPG with a DEEP story and character development (this RPG changes completely in its second half, this is oustanding).

@FawfulsFury The "pit hate"? What do you mean?

If you talked about the pit of 100 trials, I enjoyed it both in Paper Mario 2 and Super Paper Mario.

My favorite games: Paper Mario 64 and Paper Mario Color Splash.

Next: Mario & Luigi 4: Dream Team Bros.

Then: Mario & Luigi 3: Bowser's Inside Story, Paper Mario 2: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Then: Paper Mario Sticker Star.

The worst: Mario & Luigi 2: Partners in Time.

I didn't play the other games yet.

Sadly, as expected, they lowered the difficulty (unless we beat the final boss for special challenge , but this is too much waiting). The SNES game was not that easy, some bosses were quite difficult (and not only the secret one).

I think I'll pass, I don't really see what this remake would offer to me compared to the original one.

Among the best platformers of the Switch whose absence is shocking on this list, there is "The End is Nigh", an Edmund McMillen's game (even better than Super Meat Boy in my opinion, though that game is also one the best plateformer games that should be present on this list).

Great news! The biggest surprise to me is Castlevania Legends, because this is the first time a Castlevania game is released on NSO (whereas many other Castlevania are available on eShop and this game became non-canon).

I already bought The Mysterious Marasame Castle on 3DS, but did'nt really play it, so maybe this time I'll do it.

It is the first time I hear about The Devil World. I'll take a look on this game too.

I purchased this game on 3DS, but I didn't really play it. Maybe this time I'll do it.

I am still playing Harvestella (more than 100 hours, but this is also because of complex Japanese, so if we play in our mother languade, maybe it becomes twice shorter), and the story became incredible! When we first heared about this game, we expected some farming-RPG like Rune Factory, but not at all: this is a very ambitious RPG, with quite complex story, characters and background. After a particular chapter is finished, this game changes completely, like a second act during which we almost forget this is a "farming-RPG", and at that point, the music and atmosphere become even more beautiful. Fortunately, this game's trailers and communication did not spoil at all the second half of this game or some surprising plot twists, because this is an incredible surprise.

A fascinating RPG.

@Don : I don't really agree. I had more challenge on Super Mario RPG's bosses than those of Final Fantasy VI, Live A Live or Chrono Trigger. For example, Axem Rangers or the final boss took me several tries to beat them.
Moreover, at that time, Dragon Quest games were not Square games yet.

@OwlHighway1Revisited
I really enjoyed Balan Wonderworld... on PC, because the Switch version is a disaster.

@Captain_Toad
In Paper Mario series, I prefer the original N64 game and Color Splash on Wii U. And I also prefer Mario & Luigi 4 to TTYD. These games are my favorites. I don't really like TTYD's atmosphere and main city, nor some tedious moments in different chapters.

Then, I appreciate in the same way TTYD, Super Mario RPG, Super Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and Bowser Inside Story.

The worst games are Mario & Luigi 2 Partners in Time and Paper Mario Sticker Star in my opinion (even though there are good things in those games too).

The best announcement of this Direct (as well as Princess Peach Showtime).

Maybe the best announcement of this Nintendo Direct (as well as Unicorn Overlord). This game looks very charming and fun.

Not particularily hyped. This game is OK, but far from the best games of Mario RPG games.

In my opinion, Harvestella is rather a classical RPG with farming elements, but it is really good (it reminds me often Squaresoft RPG on SNES like Final Fantasy or even Chrono Trigger). Besides, text's density is very high (as high as Persona or Trails series) and this game is quite long: we spend a lot of time in reading. But the story is truly excellent (with very nice cliffhangers) and sidequests well written with cool characters. And music is great. An excellent game.

Sakura is also a gem and this time farming elements are much more important. But sadly, because I was busy, I couldn't complete this game, so I am planning to play it again from the beginning very soon.

@JohnnyMind You're welcome.
I think this trailer of Mameda no Bakeru was unnoticed everywhere.
I wrote a comment on that thread as well: https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/mameda_no_bakeru_ganbare_goemonmystical_ninja_spiritual_successor

In my case, the language is not a problem, but I fear it'll not be released in West though.

Sorry for off-topic, but I've found no news about it here. Speaking of Japan-only games, a new trailer of "Mameda no Bakeru", the Goemon-like Ninja game developped by Good-Feel, has been published 5 days ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ncizDI0myI

It looks hilarious: I'll definitely play that game (but if it could be released in West, It wound be better).

Strange choice. By the way, the three "Japan-only" games are being available on Japanese NSO's app for a long time (those Japanese apps can be easily downloaded with a Japanese Nintendo account, and then used with the same account that payed for Western NSO's offer).

"This new remaster will add a brand new game to the mix, inspired by side-scrolling action games" : what are you meaning, exactly? A platformer? As I can see at 54s, it is rather a beat'em all based on games like Kunio-Kun (River City or Street Gangs).

Great! I always wanted to play those games on DS, but now, I can play it on Switch soon.
Nice trailer.

It reminds me The Witcher series, especially the first game: we could also raise tolerance to alcohol, so that we could drink with NPC until they gave us information (or until we fell asleep if our tolerance was too low). I also remember a boss fight with a drunk Geralt and blurry screen: it was funny. So, that was a real Eastern Europe game! XD

After completing Ender Lilies with New Game + (this game is a masterpiece, one of the best Metroidvania I've ever played), I am playing Harvestella for at least 50 hours and am still in chapter 3, but I am really enjoying this game. Actually, this is rather a classical RPG similar to SNES' Final Fantasy and Squaresoft games (there is an emphasis on story, characters' personality, and dungeon exploration than a farming RPG (farming is just a small part of the game). It also reminds me Persona 3 or Shenmue because we have to organize our (real) time until night when we have to go to home and sleep, I am doing many quests that are very well written, with very good characters with them we build evolutive relationship (that have an influence on statistics in battle). Besides, this game is pretty and music is wonderful. A very relaxing game (even the "dead season" is somewhat mystical, its atmosphere is fascinating).

And this game is also excellent for my Japanese, because there are A LOT OF THINGS to read (many, many dialogs) with several unknown Chinese characters that are not "usual" (not taught at Japanese school).

@Outrunner I am playing this game for at least 50 hours and I don't see at all what you were talking about. Perhaps just playing games instead of being hysterical may be a better option? Keep cool, please.

We can find some other titles (apart from too old games that are not remasters nor remakes):

• Star Ocean First Departure R (and The Second Story soon)
• SF chapter of Live A Live
• Star Wars Episode I Racer
• Metroid Dread
• Astral Chain
• Nier: Automata
• Blaster Master Zero Trilogy

And maybe we could consider Xenoblade series?

Speaking of voice that we can activate or deactivate, that Japanese website is funnier than Western websites (if we understand Japanese):

https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/aqmxa/index.html

We have the option of activate or deactive flower's voice (and music) on this website. If we choose "On" and scroll down that page, we can hear funny flower's comments, like "Kocchi kocchi" (over here, over here!), "Benri na hana da ne" ("A convenient nose, isn't it?), "Nanika ga okoru. Ki ni suru" ("Something happens. I can feel it"), "Wondeeeeeeeeer!", "Dore ni suru?" ("What to choose?"), or "Mayotcha yo ne?" ("Are you lost?", speaking to newbees who don't know what to do and are not gifted at video games yet).

There are other missing games:

• Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love (Japan exclusive)
• BS Zelda
• Game & Watch's Zelda

@JohnnyMind Speaking of unknown Nintendo games, it would be also nice to play Marvelous: Mô Hitotsu no Takarajima (the first game Aonuma directed, on SNES) on NSO. Since this game was released on Japanese Wii U's eShop, it is not impossible it comes eventually to Japanese NSO at least. I completed this game last month and I really enjoyed it.