SuperBro64

Game Boy Tetris is great. For anyone interested, there is a fan-made hack out there called "Tetris - Rosy Retrospection" that retroactively applies modern-day Tetris features into the game, like the ghost piece, hold queue, and better block RNG. It makes a great game even better.

As an alternative to this, the developers of the Ocarina of Time PC port, Ship of Harkinian, just released the initial version for their PC port for Majora's Mask. It's called "2 Ship 2 Harkinian", after a certain infamous movie sequel name.

https://github.com/HarbourMasters/2ship2harkinian

The differences between the two is that the recompiled port is more about getting straight into playing with minimal fuss, while the Harkinian port has a lot of optional enhancements to tinker with.

Besides the new GameCube badge, are all of the same badges in the Paper Mario TTYD remake in the same locations as in the original?

I know it supposed to replicate the original GameCube cover but it feels a little incongruous for it to say "GameCube" on it when it's still for the Switch. Still cool, though.

The NA cover because it clearly shows all four of the main characters in their balls, unlike the EU one where MeeMee is hidden behind the Official Nintendo Seal. lol

Based on the score, I'm guessing it's more of a "Chomp Chumps".

Rather annoying that nothing seemed to come out of it. Drifting happened with my Joy-Cons a few times. Just because it hasn't happened to some people doesn't mean the problem didn't exist for others.

And then when the company gives out statements saying things like "we aim to improve" in response to the controversy, it makes it more frustrating. Why not actually improve instead of "aiming" to?

In preparation for the upcoming remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, I've been playing through a great ROM hack of the original Paper Mario that retroactively adds The Thousand-Year Door's battle mechanics into the original game. It's called Paper Mario TTYD64. I highly recommend it if you're a Paper Mario fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFngd-Uq6p0

A fan-made Super Mario Maker-style web editor for Super Mario 64 is already in development, actually, called Mario Builder 64. I personally think it looks great.

Example video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV5IK-Xm6n4

Well, just caught the results ahead of this article being updated. Bunnies got the most votes but it still wasn't enough. Now the Splatfest win total here in the US is 9-1-5. Poor Frye is definitely becoming the underdog (undersquid?) in this game lol.

I like the yellow background in the NA cover more than the blue background in the EU cover.

I remember the first time I played Sticker Star, having loved the first three games in the series. But I quickly dropped it because of the lack of a proper experience points system. Without it, the battles just didn't feel worth it if all I was getting as a reward was coins to buy more temporary sticker attacks, rather than getting a permanent upgrade to my stats.

It's for this same lack of experience points that I never played Color Splash or Origami King, despite the good things I've seen and heard about them in other aspects like the graphics and dialogue. So I'm very excited for a return to experience in the upcoming Thousand-Year Door remake.

@Luigivaldo Perhaps they didn't want to spoil who it was.

There was a video I watched recently that showed how Minecraft run on a Switch emulator on the Switch actually ran better than running it on the Switch natively.

I think I like bunnies the best. Partially because I like bunnies in general and partially because it would be kind of nice for Frye to finally win another Splatfest. I like all three members of the group but Shiver has won 9 times and Big Man has won 4, while Frye has still only won once.

I don't play simulator games myself, but I watch an Irish YouTuber by the name of CallMeKevin play them, and he is a master at absolutely demolishing them to bits due to how janky and glitchy they usually are. His video on Powerwash Simulator is particularly great.

@LinktotheFuture Kind of, though not really that much, as the human players still remaining are mostly the really good ones, and the CPUs, though varying in skill level, can be really good too.

@Yosher I've played F-Zero 99 fairly frequently since it first launched. I can tell you that on average there seems to be quite a bit fewer human players joining each race now than there were at the game's start.

I'm still happy that they are continuing to update the game though.

Only three things in life are certain:
1) Death
2) Taxes
3) Nintendo Switch stability

This is a cool update. Super Mario Run is underrated in my opinion. The fact that it's only a one-time purchase is very nice, as are the lack of ads. And I think the actual levels are well-designed and really fit the concept of Mario levels where you're always running. Doing all of the acrobatic maneuvers that you can't do in the mainline games makes me feel like a speedrunner.

As a pun-lover, I hereby support its existence. Or at least its name.

Another Mario game I think it is underrated is the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, AKA The Lost Levels in the US. Yes, is it incredibly difficult, but I think its a fun kind of difficult, with entertainingly devious traps like the backwards Warp Zones. And I'd say it's still manageable once you get good enough, compared to some soul-crushing hacks out there like Kaizo Mario World.

Super Mario Sunshine is my choice for an underrated Mario game. It was the first Mario game I ever played, and I loved it. And I recently replayed it and I thought it was just as good as I remembered it.

I think it is the most "alive" of all the mainline Mario games, having a wealth of NPCs to talk to with great dialogue, contained in a cohesive world where all the levels feel very much like real locations, rather than the abstract series of platforms in other Mario games.

Also, while I understand people's complaints over being unable to do the level missions in any order like in Mario 64 (and I'd agree that being forced to do the first seven missions of each level to finish the game is rather limiting compared to just having to collect a certain number of Shine Sprites), I will heavily defend the episodic level structure.

It allowed the levels to have an evolving narrative as you progressed through them, from Gelato Beach looking towards the Watermelon Festival and Pianta Village preparing for the Fluff Festival. And because the same characters appear in each level across each episode (you can tell they are the same because NPCs have distinctive designs, unlike in Mario Odyssey), you can see their unfolding reactions to everything happening.

I really wanted some of the N64 icons they had a while back, but naturally they were only available to people with the NSO Expansion Pack... =/

I understand people saying that the Switch has games still available, and I don't support piracy of current games, but the system is seven years old now. Eventually, the Switch storefront will go down, too, and the games will become harder to find and/or purchase.

The creator of Yuzu also helped create 3DS emulator Citra, and now that's being taken down too, which is quite unfortunate.

I can understand people's arguments against emulating the Switch, but the 3DS is no longer being made and it's storefront recently got shut down. So this is a major blow to preservation on that front.

Switch emulation has allowed me to play mods of games I already own without having to risk hacking my Switch. In fact, I recently played a custom track pack mod for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

That is something I think emulation is great for, being able to elevate your enjoyment and appreciation of games you've played before by giving you the means to play them in new ways.

I love the names of the ranks you earn in this game as you get more and more medals, as they get more and more maniacal-sounding to prove just how much destruction you've caused:

0 - Rookie Wrecker
1 - Trained Crushed
2 - Experienced Ravager
3 - Decorated Damager
4 - Professional Razer
5 - Expert Destroyer
6 - Gifted Ruiner
7 - Accomplished Conqueror
8 - Master Despoiler
9 - Demolition Fanatic
10 - Grand Eradicator
11 - Heavy Duty Waster
12 - Total Pulverizer
13 - Champion Ransacker
14 - Mechanical Maestro
15 - Chief Obliterator
16 - Commanding Desolator
17 - Supreme Devastator
18 - Ultimate Annihilator
19 - Leveling Legend
20 - Destructive Psychopath
21 - Mindless Desecrator
22 - Hysterical Claustrophobe
23 - Uncontrollable Madman
24 - World Class Megalomaniac
25 - Captain of Carnage
26 - Single Minded Chaosmonger
27 - Grand High Slaughtermaster
28 - Lunatic Lord of Havoc
29 - Armageddon Adept

And then the cherry on top is the very final rank, only attainable after completing literally every single objective in the entire game:

30 - You can stop now.

@MirrorFate2 I mean, why not? If there are bugs that detract from the experience, they should be fixed. It doesn't matter what game it is.

I really loved Donkey Kong '94. But I prefer this game getting a remake. I think the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong is really interesting because it doesn't feature Pauline as part of the equation that is Mario and Donkey Kong's rivalry, unlike the games before and after it.

Just a nice, simple story of Donkey Kong stealing and Mario taking back the thing that really matters: company profits lol.

Still excited for this one, as I loved the original, which was a game that I really don't think was as easy as this review suggests.

Also, the music in the original was great, so I'm excited to hear the new renditions. Especially the absolutely amazing final boss music.

Game is fun, but still quite upset that all of the special modes in F-Zero 99 are not all available at the same time, like in Tetris 99. That just feels so needlessly pointless. You can't even choose which League you want whenever the Grand Prix mode shows up.

The recently added private lobbies actually let you select any mode you want on your own... So of course, doing so won't count towards unlocking any of the challenges!

I'm sorry, but I just don't think a debt of nearly 15 million dollars is appropriate for the crime he committed. Yes, you could definitely say he should have known better, and he should still suffer the consequences of his actions. But not to this extreme degree. Or at the very least, not more than murderers or people who try to overthrow the government.

Even if not many people were playing this game today, why not discontinue it with the rest of the 3DS online? That seems pretty lame, honestly.

With these results, in America, counting the World Premiere Splatfest, Shiver has won 8 times, Big Man has now won 4, and Frye has only won 1.

@Zyph I really like your idea of crowning multiple games as Game of the Year. Obviously, everyone has different favorite games so it would be rather odd to say, "Every game this year is great!" But so many quality games get released these days that giving the award to just one feels rather limiting. I think giving the award to at least three games would be more ideal. Just my thought on it.

I know I'm a decade late to this article and no one is going to see this, but why are so many people upset about this? It seems completely harmless to me, honestly. His daughter wanted to play as a girl, so he just hacked the game to swap Mario and Pauline's places. How is doing something simple like that going to make his daughter misbehaved and spoiled? I guess she is 10 years older now, so I'm asking in a more general sense. Sometimes, I think gamers really need to chill out a bit.

Maybe this, being an original game, has more of a right to exist than a ROM hack of another game, but I would 100% rather have the ROM hack than whatever this is.

@sanderev I did forget about Link's Awakening being on the Game & Watch, so that's true (although it wasn't the DX version, it was the original). And you are right, the Switch remake does exist, too.

But still... Even with various news sites reporting on this project, I feel like the number of people who actually knew about this was probably quite small in comparison to those who don't read much or any gaming news and have purchased Nintendo's products (which includes myself, I've bought and played both the Zelda Game & Watch and the Switch remake). Just my take on it.

I can understand Nintendo wanting to protect their intellectual property, especially for newer games, and I know that Link's Awakening DX is available on Nintendo Switch Online...

But Link's Awakening DX is 25 years old now. Nintendo really couldn't have been losing money on this, right?

Also, people always bring up the argument that these developers should use their skills to make their own games instead, but having developed video games for college projects before, I want to say that creating a brand new idea for a game is not easy. Moreover, sometimes a project like this is more interesting when it's based on an existing property you like rather than something unknown. (I still have big admiration for the people who can come up with new ideas, though.)

A remake would be cool, as I think there are things about the game that could be improved (the randomness of the fishing minigame is not fun at all), but as of right now, the PC port of the game, Ship of Harkinian, already has a lot of great updates and enhancements to the game. And they are optional, so you can play the game how it originally was if you desire. It is hard to go back to the original after playing it.

If there is any game in the series that I want a remake for, it would be the Oracle games, in the same style as the Link's Awakening remake. I love those two titles, and they really deserve it, in my opinion. As much as I love the games everyone talks about (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, etc.), they've all already received remakes, so I'd prefer the games that haven't been remade to get some attention.

F-Zero 99 is really fun, some of the most I've had with any of the "99" games, but it is seriously irritating that you can't do the special modes (Team Battle, Pro Tracks, Mini Prix, Grand Prix) at any time like in Tetris 99 or Pac-Man 99. That especially makes it so much more frustrating when I lose a Mini Prix or Grand Prix, because those usually last for only a few minutes so you are pretty much guaranteed to not be able to immediately try them again after doing them once. And now not only that, but with the addition of the Queen League Grand Prix you can't choose which League you want to do, either. Seriously, why did they have to do it like this?

For actual mainline game dungeons, in no particular order I love:

• Level 4, First Quest (The Legend of Zelda)
• Palace of Darkness (A Link to the Past)
• Color Dungeon (Link's Awakening)
• Skull Dungeon (Oracle of Ages)
• Sword & Shield Maze (Oracle of Seasons)
• Water Temple (Ocarina of Time)
• Stone Tower Temple (Majora's Mask)
• Forsaken Fortress (The Wind Waker)
• Hyrule Castle (Four Swords Adventures)
• Lakebed Temple (Twilight Princess)
• Palace of Winds (The Minish Cap)
• Temple of the Ocean King (Phantom Hourglass)
• Divine Beast Vah Naboris (Breath of the Wild)

Although it's not from a mainline title, I love the singular dungeon from the fan game "The Missing Link", the one that acts as a small interquel between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

The dungeon is called Hollow Root Keep, and despite it being the only dungeon in the game, I genuinely think it ranks among the best dungeons in the series.

The dungeon has a great melancholy atmosphere to match the rest of the game, with suitably haunting, memorable music. What's more, I think it's actually really well-designed. It has red-blue switch puzzles like from some of the mainline games, and I've always liked those kinds of puzzles. It requires good use of Bombchus, which are your only explosive item (a cool idea in its own right as in OoT and MM you have almost no need to ever use Bombchus over regular bombs). The mid-boss is a cool souped-up version of the splitting Floormaster from OoT and MM (where instead of splitting up once, you have to make a giant one split up twice).

Best of all is the dungeon item, a totally original item called the Magic Hourglass, which lets you rewind back in time Link's most recent movements, including through solid surfaces. It's used very cleverly throughout the dungeon, including a puzzle that actually stumped me for some time, and it gives the game a kind of time-traveling mechanic to match OoT and MM. Plus, it's used against the dungeon boss amazingly. Speaking of which, the boss is genuinely challenging too!

I could go continue rambling on, but in a nutshell I think Hollow Root Keep as fanmade dungeon stands among Nintendo's best.