TheDanslator

I finally found RingFit a couple of weeks ago, so I'll be continuing my nightly, gruelling-yet-fun routine. Also CrossCode. Anyone who loves a good retro JRPG should buy that game immediately!

@GrizzledVeteran I'm an old nerd who's stuck inside with nothing better to do than post on gaming websites. It's nice to hear that one of my unnecessarily long tales of yore was appreciated!

@GrizzledVeteran

You're correct about which game had Link left-handed in game for sure, but from what I can tell, the Wii box and manual art still show him as left-handed. It started development as a GameCube only game, and depending on when they started porting it, it may have been too late to change the art. (Or they just didn't care)

For the Wii version, they mirrored everything in game, not just Link's model. It was done because they assumed players would have a hard time if they were swinging with their right hands to make Link's left hand move, and presumably they thought that reorientation would mess with the flow of navigation or muck up puzzles. It would be interesting to do a deep dive and see how much difference that really makes.

Y'all need to stop blaming Nintendo for the vast, joyless chasms that our lives have become.

I hate Ice Climber. It's a rote 80s arcade-style platformer, and I find its enduring popularity baffling.

Zelda II remake would be neat, if only because I think the game doesn't deserve its reputation. It's got good bones, and with a fresh coat of paint and some QOL improvements, it would shine.

Y'all have to stop getting hyped up over stuff like this, and letting your minds run wild with outlandish possibilities. You'll be let down a lot less, and learn how to focus on things that matter and live a more even keeled existence.

Ugh, another NintendoLife comment section is devolving into sniping. Hooray for 2020!

The Japanese art is just not good here. I don't understand why they needed such an extreme close-up on these characters, and there's no sense of the sci/fi angle at all. The other two are more or less tied. I picked NA because I'm nostalgic for the SNES boxes.

The Japanese cover is like the most 90s thing, and I love it. Look at all those random, colorful shapes and swiggles floating around. It's tubular to the xTreme!

I was 13 when this came out, and it was the first RPG that I really played through and through. I loved everything about it, from the oversized box (it came with the strategy guide packed in) to the quirkiness of the characters and gameplay, to its deceptively heartwarming and deep story. I occasionally find myself humming the tune the instruments play, and it always takes me back.

But yeah, thanks for the reminder that I'm pushing 40. I sure needed that today. :/

I scored 12, but I only missed Tuff E Nuff because the NA box is very different.

Banjo Man all the way. I've never played this game, and I may never play it, but if you say "Phalanx" to me I can instantly picture this box. It's bonkers, and I love it.

Based on the article they had prior problems with both timely communication and fulfillment, and they're clearly a small operation, so the pandemic probably knocked them on their butts.

That's like a microcosm of our whole economy, at least in the U.S.: everyone is standing on a knife's edge in the best of times, and a small hiccup can mean complete disaster - most folks don't have the resources to plan for long-term income disruption; now everyone is being hit at once, and because there's no safety net it's just mass failure upon mass failure. It was bound to happen, because we're short-sighted and value immediate gain at the expense of everything else. Moreover, this will only get worse as the year goes on, because we're not even at the peak of the current wave, and society thinks it's OK to reopen. I expect a second, worse wave before the end of summer, and definitely by fall. Boutique businesses like these that fly-by-night are almost certainly doomed.

tl;dr - I would cancel and refund now while these guys still have the capital, because they will probably not survive to do it later.

It is insane to me that the European art is currently beating both alternatives. Goes to show the power of nostalgia!

Japan or NA for me. That art is beautiful. I picked Japan because there's more of the art visible, but it is very close.

The European one is baffling, but I guess if you grew up with it I can see the appeal. To me, it's just a close up of some off-market Autobots, against a generic backdrop. Even the font of the text is boring, to say nothing of the subtitle. Return of the Evil Forces doesn't quite hook me in.

@Dr_Corndog It's depressingly popular worldwide, it seems.

A game about a democracy failing to authoritarianism? I'm already trapped in that game, thanks. Next can they make one about being stuck inside my home as tens of thousands perish around me from a raging pandemic, while my incompetent government shrugs its shoulders?

Apparently the Media ruined the camera feature with their treacherous reporting of facts to the public? If only Rare had had any say in the matter, but, alas, videogame companies are at the Media's every beckon call. For example, it's a well known fact that all the media coverage stopped Mortal Kombat's penchant for extreme violence after the first game released, and that's why it is now a series about playing checkers with your aunt!

...Or, you know, Rare made the decision themselves?

Anyway, I played about 10,000 hours of GoldenEye back in '97, and I never knew it had button cheats. Wild!

@SquallLeonhart86 QED

I scrolled to the bottom to find out if my suspicions were correct, that one nothing throwaway line has caused another uproar. The commenters here will burn a writer in effigy for literally any perceived affront to their rigidly defined beliefs about society, and always in the guise of being the ones who want the most freedom of expression. It's ugly, and it's sad, and I wish the site's mods would do something more than nothing.

Rygar owns, and I haven't played it in probably 20 years now. It's good fodder for burning through during the pandemic

I voted Japan because I like the simplicity. Between the other two I prefer Europe, because I think the setting and staging better reflects the game overall.

@Ralizah Reduced overall activity led to more people driving recklessly. The roads are relatively clear, so dummies are taking more risks.

It's like anything in this pandemic. You can't assume one trend is paying off positively overall. One person cited reduced heart failure as somehow significant, but it's just people neglecting getting care and dying off the grid. There's going to be an untold number of preventable deaths as a biproduct of this crisis. We won't know the true cost for a long time to come.

@Ralizah I'm not sure about nationally, but here in MN we have an interesting statistic: car accidents are down, but car accident fatalities are up. Go figure.

My uncle works as a personal assistant to Mr. Nintendo himself, and he says if you do this code during a blood moon that you can unlock Bowser and everything is backwards. It's totally true! My girlfriend in Canada confirmed it!

The background on the Japanese one is phenomenal. It's too bad they added Link and Epona over the top. It kind of wrecks the effect for me.

I picked the European one because I'm a sucker for weird stuff, and that color scheme and background are great. I recognize that I'm going to be in a minority there, though, and that's cool.

It's nice to see most posting have their heads on correctly. To the rest: Our global economy is tanking in real time while we face hundreds of thousands dead or displaced. But sure, Nintendo are lazy or something. Yikes.

@FrowningCoach Powerful ignorance.

I should like Japan's more, but it's kind of lazy: just some robots and a bland background. I would have no idea what the game was about if I didn't already know.

The NA one is funny and nostalgic, but... no.

So I picked Europe. It's well drawn, and strikes a good balance of realism and the weirdness of the game. It reminds me of an old-school Castlevania cover.

@datamonkey Too many people are debating it unfortunately, so apologies if I sounded a little hostile.

@datamonkey The CDC estimated between 30-60k in the U.S this past flu season. That season is over. COVID 19 deaths stand around 40k today, and this is just the beginning - come find me in another six months after the actual death surge has occurred.

Not to mention, it's a disingenuous comparison. We understand the flu and how it spreads, and can prevent and treat it to degrees that we absolutely cannot with the novel Coronavirus. It's apples to oranges, and dismissing this as a non issue will get even more people killed than already have been.

@Paraka No panic. Just facts. I feel like Ford Prefect would be OK with my disposition.

@Scollurio It already has.

"Slow news day!"

...on a goofy Nintendo fansite? What news is more newsworthy inside that framework that they aren't already covering? And I can get real news elsewhere. I come here to escape the hell of reality!

Japan's bonkers art wins me over again!

Interestingly, the Katakana is read as "uettorisu," or "Wetris." That's a better name, but I suppose someone was trying to avoid a lawsuit in the west.

Fantastic news. I was already eagerly awaiting the PS4 release, but the chance to have a portable option could make me wait longer for the Switch version. Or I'll just double dip. This game is so good, these developers deserve my money thrice!

Also, LOL at the edgelord calling out SJWs, or whatever. It's hilarious that goobers like him get their undies in a twist any time a game is "censored" of content, but as soon as a game with nothing more than conflicting ideology comes along, and it's suddenly the end of the world and the game must be destroyed at all costs.

@link3710 Well, he's a NintendoLife commenter, so sadly the odds are strongly in favor of that being a serious statement.

April Fool's Day is a stupid holiday.

Oh no, I have to share near infinite resources with my family. Death would be sweeter than this living hell.

@KitsuneNight Yes, I had several of those. I wasn't saying that there were no colored carts at all, just not one for Doom 64.

There was never a red Doom 64 cart as far as I know. I think some are misremembering the SNES DOOM port, which did come in a red cart.

Everyone confused needs to remember how hyphens work:

Free-scrolling shmup = a shmup where the screen scrolls based on player movement, not automatically, allowing for free movement back and forth.

A free scrolling-shmup = a shmup which scrolls (whether freely or not is unclear) and costs nothing.

Avant-garde, monochromatic Japanese art wins me over this time!

I loved this back in '97 when I played it last. I'm not sure how all it will hold up, but I'm excited it's being rescued for a new audience and preservation purposes.

I like them all. I gave a slight edge to Europe because Sonic looks cleaner, and you can see more of him; I also like the minimalist background.

I love coming here every week for the many competing "How can anyone pick something other than my choice?!" comments. Y'all are hilarious.

I picked Japan, but honestly all three do a poor job of representing this game: from these boxes, you could easily assume that something resembling entertainment might lie within, and you would be sadly, cruelly mistaken.

@mother_brain_85

I'm 38, and have been gaming since I could first hold an Atari VCS controller. I've finished countless games in all genres across every generation since. Please kindly f#$& off with your false machismo and gatekeeping.

The JPN cover looks like it came from someone's long-dormant DeviantArt portfolio. It's close to good, but doesn't quite get there: Richter's waaaaay too prominent, and drowns out the cool background. And everything looks a bit rough around the edges; it falls apart the longer you look at it.

You guys are awfully invested in this debate. The game is clearly inspired by the visuals of BotW, and some of the gameplay seems similar. The game may ultimately be very different, but it's the developers to try something different if they don't want to invite these comparisons.

Ultimately I'm going to wait and see what reviewers say. Until then, I have no opinion on the game's quality.

I prefer optimistic Kirby, and the Japanese one has less text clutter. I also like that it had a shorter title in Japan.