Toodles

Hooray! I know Tooie is kind of an acquired taste compared to the original, but I always found the sprawling interconnected worlds very immersive. It's almost a Metroidvania more than it's a platformer. Tedious at times, perhaps, but I'm still super excited to revisit it on Switch!

I've definitely been noticing it. I didn't find it too distracting in Link's Awakening, but it's much more noticeable in Echoes of Wisdom. It's not ruining the game, but it's persistent enough that I wish they had just capped the frame rate at 30 instead of having this choppy back-and-forth. I didn't mind the lower frame rate in TTYD at all because at least there it was always consistent.

I assume they want to have this out there again to coincide with the Donkey Kong Country theme park land expansions, much like how 3D World was re-released on Switch around the time Super Nintendo World first opened. The new DKC area looks to be pretty explicitly based on DKC Returns.

This game continues to look incredibly charming...but it still remains kind of unclear to me what the game actually is. Is it a minigame collection? A platformer? A little of both? It's clear the gameplay will be fairly simple, but I hope it's at least fun and engaging enough to live up to how terrific all these costume designs are.

I only finally got around to playing A Link Between Worlds a year ago, and I absolutely loved it! I sometimes bounce off 2D Zelda games pretty quick, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing through this one, and it has possibly my favorite soundtrack in the series.

I found them a little irritating after a couple levels, so I muted them, but left their little speech balloons on so I could still see what they said.

To that end, I love that you actually have the option to do that! I'm so used to Nintendo games saying "Options? Ha! The game will be played THIS way and if you don't like it, tough luck!" But Wonder does a nice job of letting you customize the experience to your liking.

Wow! I can't recall Figment ever being included in the roster of one of these Disney crossover type games. The free-to-play model is not to my tastes, but it's still cool to see Figment get some more attention!

Like I said in the review roundup, 7/10 feels like a fair score for this. This is a well-done remake that faithfully captures the spirit of the original, but it's a little rough around the edges. That said, it's still simple but enjoyable 3D platforming. And it honestly performs better on Switch than I expected. I wish Pac-Man's shadow stayed directly under him when jumping, since depth-perception can be tricky with the fixed camera. Beyond that, I don't really have any major complaints. This is probably how I'll always play Pac-Man World from now on.

@gcunit I would say just different, not necessarily good or bad. It's mostly just that it's messing with my muscle memory. The Butt Bounce feels especially different. There's a little more of a delay before you can start bouncing, which I don't love. Other than that, I'd say the controls are just fine even if they feel a bit different.

7/10 feels about right. I played through the first couple levels on Switch this morning. The controls feel very different compared to the original, so it'll definitely take a bit of getting used to. But it seems like a solid remake so far. It's 3D platforming comfort food to me. Simple but solid gameplay and a terrific soundtrack.

Wow! That looks really amazing! LEGO sets are so expensive these days, but I might have to save up a little for one of these bad boys.

It was good! Quite a bit of variety, I thought. I went in wanting an "Available Later Today" announcement for the Portal Collection and more info about Mario+Rabbids, and I got both of those things plus Pac-Man World! I'm very happy!

Very excited about this announcement! Pac-Man World is such a fun and charming game, with an unbelievably good soundtrack.

It definitely seems to be aping the look and feel of Crash Bandicoot 4. But I'm still happy to see the 3D platformer renaissance continue.

I'm legitimately upset that this collection does not include Pac-Man 2.

As a Dr. Mario addict, I never really got into this game. It was just a bit too far removed from the traditional series gameplay to really hook me, and it was a little too...mobile game-y to make want to try and get used to it. But it's still a little sad to see it go, if only because of how much I've enjoyed the parade of ridiculous characters added to the roster.

I'm on board with Jack Black as Bowser, but otherwise I can't say I'm thrilled by this news. I have yet to like a single film from Illumination besides the original Despicable Me, and this very standard sounding list of shoehorned in celebrity voices does not paint a promising picture. At least Charles Martinet is involved in some way...

I've been anxious to hear how he was doing since the new of his stroke came out last year. I'm very glad to hear that he appears to be recovering relatively well. This is still incredibly upsetting news, though. Between all of his iconic characters and his voice work at the Disney parks, Tom Kane has easily been one of the most ubiquitous voices of a majority of my life, and it makes me incredibly sad knowing that his career has been cut short. But thankfully it was just his career, and not his life.

I've played through almost the whole game now on Switch, and I've encountered a lot of glitches. Thankfully, nothing too gamebreaking. The game crashed on me once, but most other glitches have either been weird visual or audio issues, or the occasional issue with the physics not working or Sonic clipping through a wall or something. It's hardly broken, but it's a pretty sloppy remaster. Tons of little issues that drag down the experience.

I just finished playing through Kingdom Battle after finally deciding to give it a shot when the sequel was announced. And, despite hearing all the praise it's gotten over the years, I was STILL surprised by how excellent it was. Such a thoroughly enjoyable game. Can't wait for the next one!

It seems like stock for 3D All-Stars is starting to dry up in stores around me, but it's still pretty easy to find. I see the Game & Watch all over the place, though. I was recently in a Walmart that still had a whole stack of them. It does make me wonder how much demand there ever actually has been for it.

This is the best worst thing I've read about all day.

To be honest, I'd be pretty happy either way. I'd just like some new tracks to race on. I think I'd probably rather see Mario Kart 9 at this point, but I still very much enjoy Mario Kart 8, so even some more DLC there would be fine with me.

I'm fine with Classic Sonic existing alongside Modern Sonic, much in the same way that I enjoy how Nintendo still likes to use the classic style for 2D Mario artwork sometimes. But I am getting a little tired of Classic Sonic dominating all the merchandise. The new plush toys look okay, though. Better than how Sonic usually looks as a plush!

I really enjoyed this game on Switch. They did a really nice job making it feel at home on the platform. The other versions certainly look nicer, but playing in Switch absolutely still felt like playing a game designed for the Switch, instead of playing a lesser version of a game meant for more powerful hardware.

It's certainly not unusual for Nintendo's anniversary related releases to be limited time. So, at least in terms of trying to make it "special" I can kind of understand Super Mario 35 going away.

But it's just absurd to me that they're going to pull 3D All-Stars as well. Surely the short term boost in sales it's getting now pales in comparison to the number of copies it would continue to sell were it to remain available. And, honestly, it's not like it wouldn't have been a massive seller this holiday season either way.

I remember noticing this when I first got my DS Lite, after playing the game on my original DS. I assumed it was just meant to be a little easter egg depending on what system you used.

Dr. Mario and Pilotwings Resort are my go-to comfort games.

I love Dr. Mario. It's my favorite puzzle game and I still keep my 3DS handy to play it regularly. I've been hoping for a new version on the Switch, but this is even better news to me. I'm going to end up playing this so much it's not even funny. Awesome news for me!

I haven't really missed it, but I'll certainly use it if it's there!

I bought the Totaku figure of the Lemming a while back. The quality is pretty low. Nowhere near the quality of amiibo. And I've seen some pretty lousy paint jobs on other figures in store. That said...I'm totally buying Banjo-Kazooie anyway...

It's a little odd to see this coming before the original NES game, but this is actually how I first played Super Mario Bros. back in the day, so I'm pretty excited to revisit it. I remember being confused by the NES game being slightly different when I eventually played it, though of course now I know that game by heart. Should be fun to remind myself of how I first experienced this game!

I think where amiibo fail is that they don't have a "home" game based around them. The closest we've seen is Smash, which worked pretty well. Other toys-to-life franchises always have a game that the figures are specifically for, but amiibo do not. There's no one big "amiibo" game that's built around using the figures. It's very fragmented.

Of course, in theory, that's good. It means your figures are going to work across multiple games, rather than only be used for a single experience. But in practice, it creates a catch-22 that Nintendo can't escape. Tie too much content to amiibo and those who don't have the figures will be upset. Don't tie enough content to them and now folks will complain that the toys are pointless.

Skylanders, Disney and LEGO all found their audiences by tying the toys directly into the experience of a specific game. Granted, the argument for why the toys were necessary at all is a bit flimsy, but you know exactly what you're getting into if you decide to buy in.

Without a main experience built around them, I think amiibo will continue to flounder.

To a degree, I don't think there's much they could have done to improve the NSMB graphics on the 3DS, even if they had gone with NSMB2 visuals. They camera has to be more zoomed out than it was in NSMB2, to match the screen size in the Wii U game, and there's just not much resolution on the 3DS to display the more detailed graphics at that size. I assume that's where the black border comes from, too. The screen size is exactly the size it needs to be for the 8-bit and 16-bit styles to display 1-to-1 on the 3DS's screen as they appear on the Wii U, but it makes NSMB look kind of grainy when it's shrunk down that much.

This is a no brainer for me. I love Dr. Mario, and this looks like it pretty much wipes the floor with Dr. Mario Express in terms of the number of modes and features included. Can't wait to give it a go!

At last! I love Dr. Mario, particularly Online RX, and I actually bought a DSi solely because of Dr. Mario Express. It's about time the 3DS got a version to call it's own, and this one looks packed with features! I'll definitely be getting it the instant it's available in the US!

I ordered two Dedede figures. One in early December for myself and another a few weeks later as a birthday present for a friend of mine. The one I ordered first shipped this afternoon, but later in the day I got this message about the other one:

"Due to the high demand of this item, we are experiencing a delay in getting this character in for customers. We expect to receive the King Dedede Amiibo character later this Summer, and you will receive a tracking number when your item becomes available. Please rest assured we are working to obtain additional inventory as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologize for any frustration this issue may cause.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to let us know. You can respond to this email, or if you prefer to speak to someone directly you can call 1 (800) 883-8895. Our hours are 8 AM – 10 PM CST Monday – Saturday, or 8 AM to 8 PM CST on Sundays.

Have a wonderful day,

Your friends at GameStop.com"

I had ordered a Dedede for myself, and then another later as a birthday present for a friend of mine, and both got delayed. I'll probably pop out and check some stores for him next week.

I've known this for a while now, but I'm not exactly sure how I came to find out about it.

Pac-Man is one I've been looking forward to from the get go, so I'm super excited about his release.

The Super Mario ones don't interest me that much, mostly because they feel really similar to a lot of Mario merchandise that already exists. As much as I love the Mario Party 8 render that the new Yoshi is based on, I already have a figure of Yoshi in that exact post on my shelf. I'll inevitably end up buying Bowser, though, since I can never resist buying Bowser figures...

That piggy bank is totally Hamm from Toy Story.

I didn't particularly care for Cave Story 3D. The visuals were novel, but I found they made the game harder to play. The visual simplicity of the original version definitely made precise movement easier. Kind of a "don't fix what ain't broke" sort of situation. I'd stick to the original pixel art version.

That is the most complicated way to say "it's a spin-off" I have ever read. o_o

I like the idea of Nintendo Racing, since I prefer Mario Kart to Smash Bros and would love to see something that combined the best of both worlds. That said, I don't want to see other Nintendo characters in Mario Kart itself. I'd much rather a Nintendo racing game be a separate and distinct game. Probably would have to be a little less goofy than Mario Kart to accommodate the various characters.

I've seen a lot of the Mario sets and things at Toys R Us here in the US already. I'm pretty excited about this new line of toys. Looks a lot better than most of the previous stuff we've seen in recent years.

This game, to me, looks like the Nintendo equivalent of all those direct-to-DVD sequels that Disney used to churn out for their classic animated films. It's colorful, fun, and relatively harmless. But it also greatly falls short of the ambition and creativity of the original. It just seems like a year from now, no one will even remember this game.

Ah! I've heard a lot of positive things about this game! I could definitely see myself giving it a go at some point.

Just like the previous delay, though I am looking forward to playing this game, I'm glad they're taking the time they need to make it as good as possible!

I'm really enjoying Dr. Luigi, but it is pretty much just Dr. Mario Online RX with one new mode and a Luigi coat of paint. I was disappointed that Retro Remedy mode features two less songs than what Online RX had, as Sneeze and Cough are left out. Virus Buster is more fun to play with touch controls than with pointer controls, at least. It's a really great HD version of Online RX, but it doesn't really improve on it in any major ways.

Oh man, can't wait for this! I love Dr. Mario, especially Online RX and Express, so more of the same is okay by me for this series. Though am I the only one who finds it a little odd that Dr. Luigi is still wearing his hat instead of a head mirror?