Yeah I think the jumps in Hollow Knight are “normal”. Most platformers do it that way and have since the 80’s.
What’s really special about Hollow Knight IMO is the structure. It’s a metroidvania that genuinely gives you different paths through depending on how you get lost.
That was kind of possible in Super Metroid but not really. As great as Super Metroid is it just gives the impression that you can get lost. Hollow Knight commits to it.
@Yas I remember that first year via the comments section here. In particular there were a couple of NLifers who were like the Monty Python Black Knight but with negativity:
“Well it might have sold 10 million in 6 months but it’ll still be a bigger flop than Wii U. The Vita will bite its legs off.”
I think it'll clearly be a difficult transition. Realistically though we should be looking at "Switch" as a virtual platform in the way that "Steam" or "iOS" or "GamePass" are "platforms".
It's an ecosystem - Nintendo shouldn't be looking for their new hardware to establish a completely new ecosystem - it should just be the hardware you buy to access that ecosystem. If they do that successfully then the transition can be gradual without ever threatening their viability.
What Nintendo does need to be wary of though is making sure that they're able to supply the big heavy hitting first party games promptly and on a consistent basis. The early days of Switch definitely benefitted from a supply line of very high quality Wii U ports of games that hardly anyone got to play first time around.
@RCGamer I know - I mean there's already some absolutely terrible, borderline unplayable garbage on the NES and SNES apps so clearly it's not just being ruled out due to reasons of quality...
@Not_Soos the problem is - as @maulinks said earlier - that once piracy hits a certain level the market crashes. The same thing happened with the DS - in the last part of the DS life cycle every game was a commercial failure because so many people were pirating.
The long term consequences of this can be seen on Android - games are worth nothing so don’t try selling them. So devs who want to make money have to make them freemium.
Seriously - I'm over the novelty of mini-consoles. Since Nintendo launched the NSO collections I've not touched either my NES mini or SNES mini. They're just cool collectables (and the Mega Drive versions like this one are also very cool) but if I actually want to play the games then I want them on Switch.
What I would warmly welcome is authentic controllers for Switch. A Switch Dreamcast controller would be great! I'd also like to see Joy Cons fitting every system. I wouldn't buy them all but it's the sort of thing that I'd value more than a full mini-console at this point.
...although to echo @Silly_G a "GameBoy Classic Edition" would be very desirable because it's something that I'd conceivably use in situations where I wouldn't take my full Switch.
MK8 Booster courses - the next wave is just about due (could even be an “available now” deal).
Pushmo - a notable third tier Nintendo franchise not yet on Switch. IS hasn’t released anything since Origami King (though they’re presumably working on something FE that we won’t see until the window for Three Hopes has gone), Pushmo is something they could knock out pretty easily.
Either the Oracles games or WW HD - either would be warmly welcomed.
Nintendogs & Cats & Ferrets - we’ve seen a few other classic Wii and DS era franchises on Switch now & I think logically this one could come next. It was a mega hit on DS.
Something from Good Feel - again the timing seems right. I’m going to guess something that’s not a 2d platformer but still using their trademark visual style. If they do a 2d platformer I’m going for a new Wario Land (but not in a “crafted” visual style).
The chip shortage obviously has an impact. It impacts everything but especially a games console that must hit a 20-30 million+ install base ASAP.
At some point they do need to jump (and preferably before the Switch is dead in the water) but I do think that there's still plenty of life in the system. It doesn't feel like the Wii in 2010 that's for sure (but it might be getting on that way a year from now).
I'm always slightly surprised that the original is still the best selling. Yes the GameBoy was huge and Dreamland is maybe the best platform game on the console but the game was very easy and Kirby has snowballed over the decades since.
I'd guess that Forgotten Land has a decent chance.
It is - and always will remain - a great game accessible regardless of its age (most 8 and 16 bit games by contrast are very hard to recommend to newcomers).
Of snes rpgs the only other one I’d put in the same category is Chrono Trigger.
Ignore the talk about Mario RPG. It’s obviously a great game but very much of its time. FF6 is also great but needs a real going over from Square (it would be amazing in 2d-HD with some QOL changes).
@XBontendo I'm not sure I'll buy this collection (I think I've always enjoyed the idea of Sonic more than actually playing most of the games TBH and I'm not sure I'm willing to pay the asking price on this) but I'd argue they've actually nailed the point based on what we know (and can see).
Dumping a ton of ROMs into a "retro games collection" almost always does the games disrespect. Removed from their time and place - the "secrets of the playground", "assumed knowledge" from reading magazines at the time and unlimited time to play with marginal competition from other games - most retro games wilt. Save states and rewind facilities (although beneficial overall) take some of the core gameplay loop away.
It looks like Headcannon have thought hard about alternative ways to get modern players to engage with these very old games (that were arguably old fashioned when they were released - being that they are very much arcade games in spirit) and done it quite tenderly.
In spirit I think it looks closer to what Nintendo did with NES Remix than the Mega Drive collection that Sega released a few years ago or even the decent emulation in NSO.
@MS7000 to be fair to them (and many mags had similar takes on it being a game to last you months) alttp all but invented a lot of the "video game language" that we take for granted today. Some of the puzzles that seem very easy to us today are so because alttp made them tropes. I remember being amazed when I realised that I could cut the curtains down and that there might be a passage hidden behind them - that simply wasn't a part of my NES-raised vocabulary.
It is also a big game by the standards of the time with a lot of levels and a handful of bosses that are not trivial.
That said maybe reviewers of the time were simply over-estimating how long games like alttp would take to complete just because alttp was one of the earliest with a lot of mod cons like a fast warp system and auto-energy recovery on death.
Zelda - start with either Links Awakening (the remake) or Minish Cap. Then Wind Waker HD or alttp. They're all forgiving games (to varying extents).
Metroid - not difficult at all - start with Zero Mission (don't touch the NES original or the GameBoy Metroid II)
Dragon Quest - just start with VIII or XI - the stories aren't interconnected and the earlier games are very much of their time.
Mario - I think you can start just about anywhere. I would say however that "new" gamers typically find 2d action games of any kind incredibly difficult compared to those of us who grew up on the NES. Cheesing NES or SNES entries like Mario 3 or Mario World isn't an optimal experience. I'd probably recommend NSMBU Deluxe or Mario 3D World as the best entry points into Mario games.
Earthbound - Beginnings is a nice curio for fans but I wouldn't recommend it for a full playthrough even for fans without cheats/mods to sand down the roughest edges (in particular the caves right at the end are awful and you need to be warned before starting and investing dozens of hours into the game that they may make you quit).
Pokemon - always the most recent mainline game. Those games are designed for you to share and trade and you get that best with the "current" game.
@zool Absolutely - there are some very clever interactive narrative things in a handful of video games but if a game wants to be a film or a book then maybe just better to watch a good film or read a good book. Video games are generally poorly written as a narrative form.
If we're going in the anorakish level of detail required by this article then the clear answer has to be the 'A' button...
...on the Gamecube Controller. The Wii-mote aisde no other controller since has ever had the confidence to say "actually maybe you only really need one button - 2 maximum - to actually play a game so let's make that one button really big and comfortable.
Playing games like Wind Waker or Mario Sunshine on modern controllers with their puny tiny "A buttons" just feels heretical. I mean what are those buttons? Buttons for ants?
I think sometimes the save states do detract from the intended experience of playing the games. Other times - like with these SP editions - they make parts of the game more accessible to those of us who are now adults without the time to dedicate to ridiculous feats of pattern recognition (& also lacking access to the “at the time” social knowledge of secrets within the games).
What the NSO service really needs is an NES Remix style set of challenges for each game. Those games on Wii U did the task of presenting old games (and their “widely known at the time” secrets and techniques) in a very elegant way.
Ninja Hideaway is a standout course, up there with the very best in the series. Visually fantastic, thematically interesting (and involved in the actual experiece) and nice to race on.
It's such a step up on the rest to the point I'd wonder whether it was originally planned as a native MK8 track but left out for some reason before it was picked up for use in Tour.
Coconut Mall (I have no nostalgia BTW - never played MK Wii) is also a really good course that fits in nicely with several of the better MK8 courses like Sunshine Airport and it's a lot of fun to actually go around without being as dramatic visually or thematically.
Generally speaking a lot of the new courses are a little too wide with too generous curves (I presume this is down to the driving mechanics of Tour), but they're definitely very good to have. If we get one track on par with Ninja Hideaway every wave then I'd be very happy.
I mean I know you like get paid to share and technically it's a job but still reading it was very nice and - yes - that first spring and summer of Switch did feel like Nintendo emerging from the shrine of resurrection.
By the time the Wii U hit 3 years old it felt like a lifetime had passed since it had launched and every year was so laboured that a keen fan could almost list every single major release. No chance of that with the Switch.
The OG Wii felt geriatric long before it hit 5 years old but by contrast the Switch feels sprightly and with a lot of life ahead of it.
I felt it would be successful but I’m still surprised how vibrant the console still feels at this point.
@OorWullie Yes - absolutely. The N64 "A" should be mapped to "B" and the N64 "B" should be mapped to "Y". Then they'd be in the same relative positions as they are on the actual N64 controller.
Personally I find it's really difficult to adapt to for some games.
As others have pointed out - the aggregated review scores for games tend to fall slightly over time. The early reviews are from hard core enthusiasts and later reviews tend to be slightly more critical. They are after-all critics who didn't feel the need to rush out to play and review it as soon as they possibly could (see early reviews for things like Skyward Sword...).
Elden Ring is clearly a great game if you're into the particular genre. The "Soulsborne" genre is still pretty niche but if you're into it then the reviews seem to suggest that you'll love Elden Ring.
I'm more confused as to why NL decided that this article was worth putting up since there really isn't a story as much as there is an opportunity for trolls to pile in. Oh wait... I may have solved the mystery...
Woah - watching that video made me look up the price of Doshin the Giant.
I honestly thought - about 6 months after I paid £40 at release when I could see brand new copies on clearance sales for £20 that I'd been well and truly had. The market for second hand games is crazy.
Let's be honest - it's a game in which some of the most important characters are trans women and made to be figures of fun. No - no-one really buys "ah but they're not human they're Magypsies" (a "thin ice" name in the first place) - their intent was for players to identify them as trans women and laugh at them. That doesn't fly in 2022 in the West for good reason. It wouldn't have flown 20 years ago either BTW.
The game could be reworked - Mother 2 had plenty of changes in localisation. The Magypsies could be presented as explicitly non-human, the "hot tub" scene could be reworked and the "lets laugh at gay men kissing" mermen section could be replaced with something completely innocuous. It's not impossible or a big job...
...of course then Nintendo would have to face the manufactured controversy of people claiming to be offended that they "censored" the game.
Maybe the best hope would be a full remake of the game (Link's Awakening style) in which such vital changes could be more easily accepted than a modified version of the GBA game.
@ManInTheChair the ending where Krystal goes off with Panther leaving Fox a sad and broken shell of a fox is surely canon. That or Dash doing a heel turn out of nowhere to become the new Andross (seriously GoT final season “twist” with Denaeris has nothing on Dash)
It may be the only Nintendo game where the actual plot synopsis sounds like deliberately OTT stuff fans would make up for a joke.
@LOX I'd guess because making a game like this on Wii U at this point results in articles like the one we're reading here.
The biggest problem for some games is getting attention - this series is something that probably none of us had ever heard of but releasing a Wii U edition in 2022 gets the whole series a little bit of oxygen.
@blindsquarel It has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the fact that Links colour has not - in any game in the series - ever been important. The colour of the Hyrulian "human" characters has always been irrelevant - none of them even comments about it. It isn't important in the game world.
In other media I'm not always a fan of "colour-blind" casting or "colour swapping" characters. Most of the time it's completely irrelevant but when the colour of a character impacts on who the character is in an important way and how other characters would be expected to interact with them then it's a bad idea. So clearly you wouldn't want a white "Black Panther" and Edward Norton's role in American History X couldn't be played by anyone other than a white man.
Ultimately though I'm a consumer and I'm here to be entertained. If someone has a brilliant treatment of how James Bond (a white former navy officer who is part of the British aristocracy - a group that has always the idea of very narrow ethnic supremisism as it's core justification) works when you have a black man in the part - awesome. Why not? I mean it's clearly harder but if it's a good film then it's a good film.
In a videogame like Zelda though - make Link bright pink and give him bunny ears for all I care. It doesn't impact on the plot at all so why not let the players avatar in the game look a bit more like the people playing the game?
I don't see any reason at all why Link can't have any skin colour of the players choosing. One Link cannonically had pink hair, some Link's are cannonically left handed, his skin colour has literally no impact at all on the story of the game and all the cut scenes are in-engine.
I also don't particularly see why Link can't be any "biological" sex the player likes.
Gameplay wise I like weapon degradation - I don't like unbreakable weapon hoarding and selling in other RPGs, it's a stupid dynamic and slows gameplay to a crawl. BoTW's system made gameplay far more dynamic.
That said the champions weapons should have been unbreakable and the game should have given a weak but completely unbreakable sword to players from the very start.
@BloodNinja Nintendo has diverse interests but they are all built around gaming and subservient to their gaming (and they barely register right now compared to gaming revenues - let alone profit).
That isn’t the case for Sony who have a lot of turnover in high technology but relatively low margin markets like making tvs.
@BloodNinja The difficulty with comparing Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft net worth is that Nintendo is just a games company. Sony's gaming division is one leg of a much bigger table (albeit the most profitable leg). Divisions like film, TV and consumer electronics are large and provide them with vast turnover (but some of those divisions don't make much net profit on that turnover). It makes them a more stable business overall (and a more valuable business).
Microsoft are a different beast entirely - of course. They have the cash on hand to distort the market to their desires.
Nintendo is slightly less exposed to Microsoft's power because of where and how they are positioned as a toy maker. Sony are looking for near enough the same consumers, in the same demographics in the same key territories that Microsoft are targeting.
It's a huge blow to Sony. There's no other way to spin it. The Bethesda deal was a big hit and if this was a boxing match you'd expect the referee to step in at any moment now.
Microsoft now has Sony completely in the corner. They can make Activision games exclusive but I'm not sure this will necessarily happen for "legacy" IPs. They can instead make them more expensive and have PS5 buyers subsidise the players on XBox GamePass whilst telegraphing that clearly. "The game you've just paid £70 for is free on XBox and it looks & plays better".
Sony's opportunities to counter this are very limited - they lack the resources to just go out and buy companies like EA or Ubisoft without risking the stability of the company. It will - presumably start to scare the remaining "big beasts" like Ubi, Square-Enix and EA. You might see them increasingly willing to strike up big exclusivity deals with Sony to defend something like the status quo - none of them would want to see Playstation fail - they need a viable competitor to XBox in the market.
In that way Sony could be equally aggressive without "buying" companies outright.
If it had been done "in the day" then it would have sold loads and - more importantly - it would have become a technical showpiece for the console. I think if the game as shown here had been released "back in the day" - whether we might have seen a lot more ambition on GBA from other developers.
...Either that or a lot of attempts to accurately port select other PSX games.
I think the interesting thing is about wanting to defend their starting retail price and not wanting it to drop significantly after a short time. In others they want to model the Nintendo strategy of not letting their game get put on big discount within a few months.
The problem they'll find is that you can't just turn like that on a sixpence (also a problem they might find with the actual gameplay!), people know that Nintendo games don't go on sale for years, they expect Sonic games to be bargain basement prices within a year.
Those are reputations forged over a very long period of time and you can't unilaterally change that back - however much you might wish to be able to.
@SwitchplayerJohn The 3rd party games like Demon's Crest and Breath of Fire 1 & 2 (Capcom) or Castlevania Bloodlines (Konami)?
Some 3rd party games will never be on the table because they get sold more profitably in other collections but you'd have to think that there might be some choice picks for the N64 (particularly things like Castlevania 64 and Mystical Ninja 64) down the line given that they've pushed the boat out for Banjo.
Of course it should expand faster. In a few years it'll be an incredible service though - hopefully they don't reboot it when the Switch 2 comes around.
I’m not sure about this review at all. I played through the story mode on hard and found it pretty easy. Then again I played hours and hours of the NES original as a child against my mum (it was one of the only games she’d play).
The game isn’t as refined as Panel De Pon or Puyo Puyo as a multiplayer game but it is much more accessible.
Putting it on the same level as Yoshis Cookie and Warios Woods is just inaccurate. It’s fundamentally sound (those other games are generally flawed or hard to follow) but some of the other criticisms are valid.
One wrong move - or garbage from a combo early - can be almost impossible to recover from (but it can be a long drawn out inevitable defeat). Still that’s part of the price the game pays for accessibility IMO.
Comments 652
Re: Backlog Club: Hollow Knight Does Things That Other Games Wouldn't. That's Why It's So Good
Yeah I think the jumps in Hollow Knight are “normal”. Most platformers do it that way and have since the 80’s.
What’s really special about Hollow Knight IMO is the structure. It’s a metroidvania that genuinely gives you different paths through depending on how you get lost.
That was kind of possible in Super Metroid but not really. As great as Super Metroid is it just gives the impression that you can get lost. Hollow Knight commits to it.
Re: Talking Point: What Are The Nintendo Switch's Defining Moments (So Far)?
@Yas I remember that first year via the comments section here. In particular there were a couple of NLifers who were like the Monty Python Black Knight but with negativity:
“Well it might have sold 10 million in 6 months but it’ll still be a bigger flop than Wii U. The Vita will bite its legs off.”
Re: Random: These Fan-Made EarthBound Dioramas Are Available To Buy For Your Nerd Shelf
This is amongst the most beautiful gaming merchandise I've ever seen.
The 8 sanctuary locations from a 25+ year old commercial failure now available to buy physically. What a world we live in.
Re: Sega Is Teasing A New Game, Reveal Happening Soon
Well there’s only 2 things that Sega cares about these days so I’m predicting that they mash them up into a single game:
Sonic the NFThog
Re: Reggie: Nintendo's Transition From Switch Will Be A "Significant Challenge"
I think it'll clearly be a difficult transition. Realistically though we should be looking at "Switch" as a virtual platform in the way that "Steam" or "iOS" or "GamePass" are "platforms".
It's an ecosystem - Nintendo shouldn't be looking for their new hardware to establish a completely new ecosystem - it should just be the hardware you buy to access that ecosystem. If they do that successfully then the transition can be gradual without ever threatening their viability.
What Nintendo does need to be wary of though is making sure that they're able to supply the big heavy hitting first party games promptly and on a consistent basis. The early days of Switch definitely benefitted from a supply line of very high quality Wii U ports of games that hardly anyone got to play first time around.
Re: Gallery: Here's A Look At Pokémon Snap For The Switch Online Expansion Pack
@RCGamer I know - I mean there's already some absolutely terrible, borderline unplayable garbage on the NES and SNES apps so clearly it's not just being ruled out due to reasons of quality...
Re: Nintendo Admits It Released A New Model Of The Switch To Fight Piracy
@Not_Soos the problem is - as @maulinks said earlier - that once piracy hits a certain level the market crashes. The same thing happened with the DS - in the last part of the DS life cycle every game was a commercial failure because so many people were pirating.
The long term consequences of this can be seen on Android - games are worth nothing so don’t try selling them. So devs who want to make money have to make them freemium.
It’s ultimately a disaster for players.
Re: Sega Has Considered Dreamcast & Saturn Mini But Is Worried About Extreme Costs
Seriously - I'm over the novelty of mini-consoles. Since Nintendo launched the NSO collections I've not touched either my NES mini or SNES mini. They're just cool collectables (and the Mega Drive versions like this one are also very cool) but if I actually want to play the games then I want them on Switch.
What I would warmly welcome is authentic controllers for Switch. A Switch Dreamcast controller would be great! I'd also like to see Joy Cons fitting every system. I wouldn't buy them all but it's the sort of thing that I'd value more than a full mini-console at this point.
...although to echo @Silly_G a "GameBoy Classic Edition" would be very desirable because it's something that I'd conceivably use in situations where I wouldn't take my full Switch.
Re: Feature: Our Predictions For The-E3-That-Isn't E3 - Bayonetta, GoldenEye, And... Viva Piñata?!
Realistically:
MK8 Booster courses - the next wave is just about due (could even be an “available now” deal).
Pushmo - a notable third tier Nintendo franchise not yet on Switch. IS hasn’t released anything since Origami King (though they’re presumably working on something FE that we won’t see until the window for Three Hopes has gone), Pushmo is something they could knock out pretty easily.
Either the Oracles games or WW HD - either would be warmly welcomed.
Nintendogs & Cats & Ferrets - we’ve seen a few other classic Wii and DS era franchises on Switch now & I think logically this one could come next. It was a mega hit on DS.
Something from Good Feel - again the timing seems right. I’m going to guess something that’s not a 2d platformer but still using their trademark visual style. If they do a 2d platformer I’m going for a new Wario Land (but not in a “crafted” visual style).
Re: EA Reveals It's Working On An Unannounced Remake For 2023
Why is this news on NL?
99% certain that EA won’t release this on a Nintendo platform.
Re: Talking Point: As Switch Hardware Sales Slow, How Long Can Nintendo Delay 'Switch 2'?
The chip shortage obviously has an impact. It impacts everything but especially a games console that must hit a 20-30 million+ install base ASAP.
At some point they do need to jump (and preferably before the Switch is dead in the water) but I do think that there's still plenty of life in the system. It doesn't feel like the Wii in 2010 that's for sure (but it might be getting on that way a year from now).
Re: Kirby And The Forgotten Land Sells Over Two Million Copies In Just Two Weeks
I'm always slightly surprised that the original is still the best selling. Yes the GameBoy was huge and Dreamland is maybe the best platform game on the console but the game was very easy and Kirby has snowballed over the decades since.
I'd guess that Forgotten Land has a decent chance.
Re: Memory Pak: Making New Memories With Earthbound In 2022
It is - and always will remain - a great game accessible regardless of its age (most 8 and 16 bit games by contrast are very hard to recommend to newcomers).
Of snes rpgs the only other one I’d put in the same category is Chrono Trigger.
Ignore the talk about Mario RPG. It’s obviously a great game but very much of its time. FF6 is also great but needs a real going over from Square (it would be amazing in 2d-HD with some QOL changes).
Re: Soapbox: Please, Please, Please Release Sonic Advance Trilogy On Nintendo Switch Online
@gojiguy yes. They should make all GBA games run in widescreen. If Nintendo doesn’t bother to do this then no one should play them on Switch.
Re: Gallery: Brand New Screenshots Of Sonic Origins, Out On Switch This June
@XBontendo I'm not sure I'll buy this collection (I think I've always enjoyed the idea of Sonic more than actually playing most of the games TBH and I'm not sure I'm willing to pay the asking price on this) but I'd argue they've actually nailed the point based on what we know (and can see).
Dumping a ton of ROMs into a "retro games collection" almost always does the games disrespect. Removed from their time and place - the "secrets of the playground", "assumed knowledge" from reading magazines at the time and unlimited time to play with marginal competition from other games - most retro games wilt. Save states and rewind facilities (although beneficial overall) take some of the core gameplay loop away.
It looks like Headcannon have thought hard about alternative ways to get modern players to engage with these very old games (that were arguably old fashioned when they were released - being that they are very much arcade games in spirit) and done it quite tenderly.
In spirit I think it looks closer to what Nintendo did with NES Remix than the Mega Drive collection that Sega released a few years ago or even the decent emulation in NSO.
Re: Feature: 24 Game Boy Advance Games We'd Love To See Added To Nintendo Switch Online
@Yas I suppose there’s no chance of Square signing up to this service though.
If they did then FFTA would also be a clear winner. Great game in a huge series and not available on any other format (to my knowledge).
Re: Feature: Hot Zelda: Link To The Past Takes From '90s Game Mags, 30 Years Later
@MS7000 to be fair to them (and many mags had similar takes on it being a game to last you months) alttp all but invented a lot of the "video game language" that we take for granted today. Some of the puzzles that seem very easy to us today are so because alttp made them tropes. I remember being amazed when I realised that I could cut the curtains down and that there might be a passage hidden behind them - that simply wasn't a part of my NES-raised vocabulary.
It is also a big game by the standards of the time with a lot of levels and a handful of bosses that are not trivial.
That said maybe reviewers of the time were simply over-estimating how long games like alttp would take to complete just because alttp was one of the earliest with a lot of mod cons like a fast warp system and auto-energy recovery on death.
Re: Talking Point: Is It Ever A Good Idea To Start At 'The Beginning' Of Series Like Zelda Or Dragon Quest?
Zelda - start with either Links Awakening (the remake) or Minish Cap. Then Wind Waker HD or alttp. They're all forgiving games (to varying extents).
Metroid - not difficult at all - start with Zero Mission (don't touch the NES original or the GameBoy Metroid II)
Dragon Quest - just start with VIII or XI - the stories aren't interconnected and the earlier games are very much of their time.
Mario - I think you can start just about anywhere. I would say however that "new" gamers typically find 2d action games of any kind incredibly difficult compared to those of us who grew up on the NES. Cheesing NES or SNES entries like Mario 3 or Mario World isn't an optimal experience. I'd probably recommend NSMBU Deluxe or Mario 3D World as the best entry points into Mario games.
Earthbound - Beginnings is a nice curio for fans but I wouldn't recommend it for a full playthrough even for fans without cheats/mods to sand down the roughest edges (in particular the caves right at the end are awful and you need to be warned before starting and investing dozens of hours into the game that they may make you quit).
Pokemon - always the most recent mainline game. Those games are designed for you to share and trade and you get that best with the "current" game.
Re: Talking Point: Is It Ever A Good Idea To Start At 'The Beginning' Of Series Like Zelda Or Dragon Quest?
@zool Absolutely - there are some very clever interactive narrative things in a handful of video games but if a game wants to be a film or a book then maybe just better to watch a good film or read a good book. Video games are generally poorly written as a narrative form.
Re: Back Page: Which Is The Best Controller Button, And What Does Your Pick Say About You?
If we're going in the anorakish level of detail required by this article then the clear answer has to be the 'A' button...
...on the Gamecube Controller. The Wii-mote aisde no other controller since has ever had the confidence to say "actually maybe you only really need one button - 2 maximum - to actually play a game so let's make that one button really big and comfortable.
Playing games like Wind Waker or Mario Sunshine on modern controllers with their puny tiny "A buttons" just feels heretical. I mean what are those buttons? Buttons for ants?
Re: Round Up: It's April Fools' Day, Here Are The Best Gaming Gags We've Seen
@Tyranexx fortunately on most other days everything you read on the internet is completely reliable and can be taken on face value as verifiable fact!
Re: Nintendo Adds Super Mario World And Super Punch-Out!! Switch Online Special Versions
I think sometimes the save states do detract from the intended experience of playing the games. Other times - like with these SP editions - they make parts of the game more accessible to those of us who are now adults without the time to dedicate to ridiculous feats of pattern recognition (& also lacking access to the “at the time” social knowledge of secrets within the games).
What the NSO service really needs is an NES Remix style set of challenges for each game. Those games on Wii U did the task of presenting old games (and their “widely known at the time” secrets and techniques) in a very elegant way.
Re: Nintendo Adds Super Mario World And Super Punch-Out!! Switch Online Special Versions
@TKundNobody you could always start on the second quest by entering your file name as ‘Zelda’.
Re: New Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 Footage Showcases Gnarly Master Sword
YES! I always said that I thought BoTW should have had even more weapon degradation!
Nintendo: trolling the fanboys since 1985!
Re: Poll: What’s Your Favourite New Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC Track?
Ninja Hideaway is a standout course, up there with the very best in the series. Visually fantastic, thematically interesting (and involved in the actual experiece) and nice to race on.
It's such a step up on the rest to the point I'd wonder whether it was originally planned as a native MK8 track but left out for some reason before it was picked up for use in Tour.
Coconut Mall (I have no nostalgia BTW - never played MK Wii) is also a really good course that fits in nicely with several of the better MK8 courses like Sunshine Airport and it's a lot of fun to actually go around without being as dramatic visually or thematically.
Generally speaking a lot of the new courses are a little too wide with too generous curves (I presume this is down to the driving mechanics of Tour), but they're definitely very good to have. If we get one track on par with Ninja Hideaway every wave then I'd be very happy.
Re: Random: A Rare Zelda: The Wind Waker Promo Scroll Gets An Airing
@dew12333 ah yes. ye olde misogyny.
Re: Japanese Charts: Triangle Strategy Storms To First Place
@Justaguest what’s your three points?
Re: Gallery: Here's A Look At The Switch Online Version Of F-Zero X, Plus A Video Comparison
The low texture low poly look of F-Zero X and the 60fps mean this has aged really well.
It’s also perfect for dropping into for 5-10 minutes at a time.
Odd timing alongside MK8 DLC though.
Re: Memory Pak: I Was Accidentally In The Perfect Place For The Nintendo Switch Launch Week
Thanks for sharing.
I mean I know you like get paid to share and technically it's a job but still reading it was very nice and - yes - that first spring and summer of Switch did feel like Nintendo emerging from the shrine of resurrection.
Re: Talking Point: How's Your Switch Holding Up After 5 Years?
Still in great condition. Doesn't feel like it's 2 years old let alone 5.
Re: Anniversary: The Nintendo Switch Is Now 5 Years Old
It just doesn’t feel that old!
By the time the Wii U hit 3 years old it felt like a lifetime had passed since it had launched and every year was so laboured that a keen fan could almost list every single major release. No chance of that with the Switch.
The OG Wii felt geriatric long before it hit 5 years old but by contrast the Switch feels sprightly and with a lot of life ahead of it.
I felt it would be successful but I’m still surprised how vibrant the console still feels at this point.
Re: Zelda: Majora's Mask Cutscene On Switch Apparently "More Accurate To N64" Than Wii Virtual Console Emulation
@OorWullie Yes - absolutely. The N64 "A" should be mapped to "B" and the N64 "B" should be mapped to "Y". Then they'd be in the same relative positions as they are on the actual N64 controller.
Personally I find it's really difficult to adapt to for some games.
Re: Random: Elden Ring Just Dethroned Mario Odyssey At The Top Of OpenCritic's 'Best Game' List
As others have pointed out - the aggregated review scores for games tend to fall slightly over time. The early reviews are from hard core enthusiasts and later reviews tend to be slightly more critical. They are after-all critics who didn't feel the need to rush out to play and review it as soon as they possibly could (see early reviews for things like Skyward Sword...).
Elden Ring is clearly a great game if you're into the particular genre. The "Soulsborne" genre is still pretty niche but if you're into it then the reviews seem to suggest that you'll love Elden Ring.
I'm more confused as to why NL decided that this article was worth putting up since there really isn't a story as much as there is an opportunity for trolls to pile in. Oh wait... I may have solved the mystery...
Re: Feature: Is It Worth Importing A Japanese 3DS For These Virtual Console Games?
Woah - watching that video made me look up the price of Doshin the Giant.
I honestly thought - about 6 months after I paid £40 at release when I could see brand new copies on clearance sales for £20 that I'd been well and truly had. The market for second hand games is crazy.
Re: Mother 3 Producer Would "Love To See" GBA Entry Receive A Worldwide Release
Let's be honest - it's a game in which some of the most important characters are trans women and made to be figures of fun. No - no-one really buys "ah but they're not human they're Magypsies" (a "thin ice" name in the first place) - their intent was for players to identify them as trans women and laugh at them. That doesn't fly in 2022 in the West for good reason. It wouldn't have flown 20 years ago either BTW.
The game could be reworked - Mother 2 had plenty of changes in localisation. The Magypsies could be presented as explicitly non-human, the "hot tub" scene could be reworked and the "lets laugh at gay men kissing" mermen section could be replaced with something completely innocuous. It's not impossible or a big job...
...of course then Nintendo would have to face the manufactured controversy of people claiming to be offended that they "censored" the game.
Maybe the best hope would be a full remake of the game (Link's Awakening style) in which such vital changes could be more easily accepted than a modified version of the GBA game.
Re: Nintendo Direct To Air Tomorrow, Wednesday 9th February 2022
@ManInTheChair the ending where Krystal goes off with Panther leaving Fox a sad and broken shell of a fox is surely canon. That or Dash doing a heel turn out of nowhere to become the new Andross (seriously GoT final season “twist” with Denaeris has nothing on Dash)
It may be the only Nintendo game where the actual plot synopsis sounds like deliberately OTT stuff fans would make up for a joke.
Re: The Wii U Is Getting A New eShop Game In 2022, Will Include Balance Board Support
@LOX I'd guess because making a game like this on Wii U at this point results in articles like the one we're reading here.
The biggest problem for some games is getting attention - this series is something that probably none of us had ever heard of but releasing a Wii U edition in 2022 gets the whole series a little bit of oxygen.
Re: Feature: 8 Things We'd Love To See In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2
@blindsquarel It has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the fact that Links colour has not - in any game in the series - ever been important. The colour of the Hyrulian "human" characters has always been irrelevant - none of them even comments about it. It isn't important in the game world.
In other media I'm not always a fan of "colour-blind" casting or "colour swapping" characters. Most of the time it's completely irrelevant but when the colour of a character impacts on who the character is in an important way and how other characters would be expected to interact with them then it's a bad idea. So clearly you wouldn't want a white "Black Panther" and Edward Norton's role in American History X couldn't be played by anyone other than a white man.
Ultimately though I'm a consumer and I'm here to be entertained. If someone has a brilliant treatment of how James Bond (a white former navy officer who is part of the British aristocracy - a group that has always the idea of very narrow ethnic supremisism as it's core justification) works when you have a black man in the part - awesome. Why not? I mean it's clearly harder but if it's a good film then it's a good film.
In a videogame like Zelda though - make Link bright pink and give him bunny ears for all I care. It doesn't impact on the plot at all so why not let the players avatar in the game look a bit more like the people playing the game?
Re: Feature: 8 Things We'd Love To See In Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2
I don't see any reason at all why Link can't have any skin colour of the players choosing. One Link cannonically had pink hair, some Link's are cannonically left handed, his skin colour has literally no impact at all on the story of the game and all the cut scenes are in-engine.
I also don't particularly see why Link can't be any "biological" sex the player likes.
Gameplay wise I like weapon degradation - I don't like unbreakable weapon hoarding and selling in other RPGs, it's a stupid dynamic and slows gameplay to a crawl. BoTW's system made gameplay far more dynamic.
That said the champions weapons should have been unbreakable and the game should have given a weak but completely unbreakable sword to players from the very start.
Re: Talking Point: How Does Microsoft's Purchase Of Activision Blizzard Impact Nintendo?
@BloodNinja Nintendo has diverse interests but they are all built around gaming and subservient to their gaming (and they barely register right now compared to gaming revenues - let alone profit).
That isn’t the case for Sony who have a lot of turnover in high technology but relatively low margin markets like making tvs.
Re: Talking Point: How Does Microsoft's Purchase Of Activision Blizzard Impact Nintendo?
@BloodNinja The difficulty with comparing Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft net worth is that Nintendo is just a games company. Sony's gaming division is one leg of a much bigger table (albeit the most profitable leg). Divisions like film, TV and consumer electronics are large and provide them with vast turnover (but some of those divisions don't make much net profit on that turnover). It makes them a more stable business overall (and a more valuable business).
Microsoft are a different beast entirely - of course. They have the cash on hand to distort the market to their desires.
Nintendo is slightly less exposed to Microsoft's power because of where and how they are positioned as a toy maker. Sony are looking for near enough the same consumers, in the same demographics in the same key territories that Microsoft are targeting.
Re: Talking Point: How Does Microsoft's Purchase Of Activision Blizzard Impact Nintendo?
It's a huge blow to Sony. There's no other way to spin it. The Bethesda deal was a big hit and if this was a boxing match you'd expect the referee to step in at any moment now.
Microsoft now has Sony completely in the corner. They can make Activision games exclusive but I'm not sure this will necessarily happen for "legacy" IPs. They can instead make them more expensive and have PS5 buyers subsidise the players on XBox GamePass whilst telegraphing that clearly. "The game you've just paid £70 for is free on XBox and it looks & plays better".
Sony's opportunities to counter this are very limited - they lack the resources to just go out and buy companies like EA or Ubisoft without risking the stability of the company. It will - presumably start to scare the remaining "big beasts" like Ubi, Square-Enix and EA. You might see them increasingly willing to strike up big exclusivity deals with Sony to defend something like the status quo - none of them would want to see Playstation fail - they need a viable competitor to XBox in the market.
In that way Sony could be equally aggressive without "buying" companies outright.
Re: Random: The OG Tomb Raider Looks Amazing On Game Boy Advance
It's clearly very impressive.
If it had been done "in the day" then it would have sold loads and - more importantly - it would have become a technical showpiece for the console. I think if the game as shown here had been released "back in the day" - whether we might have seen a lot more ambition on GBA from other developers.
...Either that or a lot of attempts to accurately port select other PSX games.
Re: Random: Introducing The Tiger Boy Advance - A GBA Inside A Tiger Electronics Handheld System
@YagaMaki Hey - in fairness Lights Out is a real banger!
Re: Sonic Frontiers Was Originally Planned For A 2021 Release, But Sega Wanted To "Brush Up The Quality"
I think the interesting thing is about wanting to defend their starting retail price and not wanting it to drop significantly after a short time. In others they want to model the Nintendo strategy of not letting their game get put on big discount within a few months.
The problem they'll find is that you can't just turn like that on a sixpence (also a problem they might find with the actual gameplay!), people know that Nintendo games don't go on sale for years, they expect Sonic games to be bargain basement prices within a year.
Those are reputations forged over a very long period of time and you can't unilaterally change that back - however much you might wish to be able to.
Re: Best Of 2021: Seriously, What The Heck Is Going On Inside Samus’ Morph Ball?
I’d never thought of it before but the Pokeball answer seems plausible.
Metroid takes place in the distant future of Pokémon. The Chozo are descended from Ash and utilise an advanced version of his technology.
Ridley is obviously an as yet unseen evolution of Charizard.
Ditto ultimately evolves into the X parasite.
Re: Video: We Forced A Bot To Create Switch Games That Don't Exist, And Now We Wish They Did
Can't let you do that Car Fox!
Re: Talking Point: Should The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Library Expand Faster?
@SwitchplayerJohn The 3rd party games like Demon's Crest and Breath of Fire 1 & 2 (Capcom) or Castlevania Bloodlines (Konami)?
Some 3rd party games will never be on the table because they get sold more profitably in other collections but you'd have to think that there might be some choice picks for the N64 (particularly things like Castlevania 64 and Mystical Ninja 64) down the line given that they've pushed the boat out for Banjo.
Re: Talking Point: Should The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Library Expand Faster?
Well Duh.
Of course it should expand faster. In a few years it'll be an incredible service though - hopefully they don't reboot it when the Switch 2 comes around.
Re: Mini Review: Dr. Mario 64 - Diagnosis: A Bit Rubbish
I’m not sure about this review at all. I played through the story mode on hard and found it pretty easy. Then again I played hours and hours of the NES original as a child against my mum (it was one of the only games she’d play).
The game isn’t as refined as Panel De Pon or Puyo Puyo as a multiplayer game but it is much more accessible.
Putting it on the same level as Yoshis Cookie and Warios Woods is just inaccurate. It’s fundamentally sound (those other games are generally flawed or hard to follow) but some of the other criticisms are valid.
One wrong move - or garbage from a combo early - can be almost impossible to recover from (but it can be a long drawn out inevitable defeat). Still that’s part of the price the game pays for accessibility IMO.