Vil

Great review, Alana! From what I've seen, I'd say that's a fair score for such a lovingly remade masterpiece with only a few tiny faults remaining (and the unfortunate 30 FPS cap) ...

Wonderful to hear the backtracking has been cleaned up a bit. That is my biggest complaint by far about the original. Chapter 7 especially with that awful cannon fetch quest that was clearly just padding.

Looking forward to the midnight launch tomorrow!

I hope and pray that TTYD sells gangbusters just to increase the chances of a Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time remake lol

Seriously though, I want it to sell well regardless. Both series need their big comeback. If only AlphaDream was still around to see it.

That just seems annoying to me. Not a big fan of the art style either.

Just my opinion, though.

They're definitely holding onto a new 3D Mario and Mario Kart for the Switch 2 next year ...so I'd expect just smaller titles and another requested remake or two. Just enough to carry them through the Switch's last holiday season. If we'd just get Wind Waker HD I'd be all set until the next console, honestly. The big reveal in the direct might be Metroid Prime 4, but it will most likely be cross platform.

Phew ...

Well, there you go. Not a rumour or a leak anymore.

Atari has been very cool lately, unlike most of the rest of the industry. Props to them.

Using the old Japanese design I see ...Oh well. I do prefer the one we got over here ...but the game itself still looks fabulous. Shame it's only 30 FPS on the ancient Tegra X1, but at least I can see why. It's really pushing it.

@Diogmites Ah, ok. Gotcha.

Does Snufkin have a Swedish language option? Can't hear anything else when it comes to Moomin lol

Nothing much. On vacation in Oslo over the weekend. Visited a great pub called 'Tilt' that has a ton of arcade games, though. Whole place is like an 80's or 90's arcade. Wonderful staff and a rare selection. Highly recommended. Great time with Pac-Man, Galaga, Daytona USA and Sega Rally lol

@DwaynesGames Yeah ...The vouchers can be quite deceptive in that way. If you redeem two of these lower price games you almost lose money (you actually do lose money in my country's currency lol). I only get vouchers for new, full price titles I want for cheaper and don't mind going digital on, like remakes and Mario Tennis / Golf. The discount is very nice in that use case, especially with some outrageous physical prices where I live.

Yup. Saving my remaining voucher for Paper Mario.

Game has a killer OST.

Wonderful little game, strongly recommended. My physical copy did crash occasionally, though.

TPC and Game Freak are sooo salty and I absolutely love it. Maybe we'll get some fragments of quality back from them after this.

That is wonderful news. I love Jim Carrey and these movies would not be nearly as fun without him.

Not buying any Joy Con until the next generation to avoid anything drifting into my nightmares later. I love the look of these, though ...but I'll stick with my trusty no issue Pro Controller as always. Never spending that much for high risk eventual failure ever again. Meanwhile, the Pro Controller I've been using almost daily has lasted over 5 years so far and is as good as new, so if they put one of those out in fun colours like this, I would consider it.

Welp, time to install Tiramisu.

Props to the amazing modding community for keeping Nintendo's retired consoles alive well into the future. Makes me feel safe keeping them around. Got one of my GameCubes with Swiss, a 3DS with Luma and my Wii with tons of weird, funky stuff on it.

At least Sony is still supporting the PS3 and Vita (well, keeping them running on a dusty broom closet server somewhere at least) so I won't need to mod those any time soon. PS3's online services and store are still (mostly) alive and kicking almost 20 years later.

Microsoft barely even needs to support their old consoles since their backwards compatibility is basically unmatched.

I'd be fine with the next entry being a 4K Ultimate port that includes all DLC ...Just with trophies, a Smash Run and Subspace Emissary / Adventure Mode included as well. Can't really think of how they could do anything more than that except maybe a 1:1 Melee remake.

Dracula sure got a makeover.

At least something good came out of those Scarlet & Violet sales, then.

@MysticX That is true, of course. I was mostly thinking of small indie teams who depend on every sale.

Making a flash cart for a system that is still on the market with games being released and developers needing more support than ever with all these layoffs happening makes me very sad.

I usually support modding and backups as I do it myself, mostly for preservation, but only for consoles that aren't for sale or supported anymore, with zero small developers left depending on them or even able to earn from them. The Wii U and 3DS recently entered such a state with the eShop and online shutdown (thanks, Nintendo).

That being said, I'm strongly against emulating or piracy on any and all current or still fully supported consoles and fully respect and support Nintendo cracking down on that. This is my stance, anyway. We're each entitled to our own opinions on the matter. As for mr. Bowser, you must lay in your bed the way you made it.

It'll probably get a Switch 2 port judging by those visuals ...but I'll get it on PS5.

It still looks great mind you, just not 'PS5 / Xbox Series only' great (to me at least), probably because it is built with the Switch 2 in mind as well. Can't pass up on those Switch Monster Hunter sales numbers.

Hoping for Baldur's Gate 3. That team definitely deserves it from what I've seen.

Update: Well, there you go. Well deserved.

It'll be a CGI hellscape with live action actors jumping around on giant green screen obstacle courses, chasing ping pong balls ...You know, the true art of current live action filmmaking, courtesy of modern Hollywood. Not animation ...Bah! That's for kids, right? That's why we're making all these live action remakes everyone loves.

Animation keeps getting disrespected, like it has always been throughout all of history. The people I hate most in this world are those who can say with a straight face that animation is only for children. There are still many who hold that attitude.

In my personal opinion, animation has always been the purest form of art. So many spectacular works from the world over, if you actually put in the effort to find them. Especially the actual hand drawn stuff. It's literally a living painting. It can be anything. The abstract and the colourful, the terrifying and the angelic. As a writer, all my work is made with animation and its infinite possibilities in mind. If it ever gets adapted, I'd only ever accept animation. I feel Zelda fits better in that art form as well.

Paper Jam should be dead last. I absolutely despise that game and everything it represents even more than Sticker Star. Though both are equally offensive for their respective series, I could at least finish Sticker Star, but Paper Jam gave me something terminal within the first few hours. I see it as AlphaDream's early death sentence.

Colour Splash is an improvement, though still an obvious sequel to garbage, but at least the writing was mostly excellent, the music is some of the best in the series and the environments and visuals were wonderful. Also, Partners in Time is, as always, criminally underrated in my opinion. To me, it stands alongside Bowser's Inside Story and Superstar Saga as masterpieces practically equal to the first Paper Mario games.

Luckily that fits right in with my sleep schedule lol

Hoping for a new Monster Hunter! (Update: Got that one right lol)

Rockstar decided to drop their nuclear warhead on the gaming industry in this very same timeframe, though. Can't deny I'm way more excited for that ...Sorry, Keighley.

This year has been crazy in quality (and sheer quantity of that quality) ...Baldur's Gate 3 will probably win, but Mario Wonder is my personal favourite. Haven't played BG3 yet since it's been so packed ... and I kind of want a physical release lol

With Granblue Fantasy, TTYD and GTA 6 on the way as well, though ...Ugh. The wallet and backlog will both be met by a terrible fate. It's just too much!

@XandertheWise Wow. Auditioning for r/confidentlyincorrect with that one?

It seems you enjoy caving way more than me, considering it's literally the one game that wasn't remade. It's number 2 in the series, and only 1 (Superstar Saga) and 3 (Bowser's Inside Story) got remakes on the 3DS. They skipped Partners in Time because of its low popularity. No offence here, but a simple Google search would let you find this cave's exit.

Of course. Gotta support this so we get way more Mario RPG's with actual stories and characters in the future.

For remakes, though, I desperately want Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time next. That series needs its big comeback and Partners in Time is wildly underrated. Hopefully Nintendo hired some former AlphaDream staff to help out with that as well. No other studio can emulate their style and charm.

David Zaslav is a ****. Warner Bros. has been tossed around like a prom date this past decade and still ended up with the pervert creep bully in the end. No happy endings here.

Sure miss the days of Nintendo Selects lol

@Krull Of course! Can't hear anything different when I see these characters.

Tove Jansson was such a national treasure. I hope it has a Swedish language option.

Just give Ultimate a Switch 2 patch or spruced up port and add even more DLC with more characters, stages and older modes returning, then do a 1:1 remake of Melee with server- based online. Don't need more than that.

Analogue triggers is huge to make GameCube games easier to emulate (and way better, especially Luigi's Mansion). It's also something I've just missed on every Nintendo console since ...Makes racing games inferior for one.

Also, Joy- con drift, but that should be a given lol

Fix that build quality.

I'm one of those copies lol

@Sisilly_G The one from Mario Wii has to be either the P Switch or Ice Block Fire Bro level from World 9 ...Those were insane.

So many think Sunshine is hard? I guess it depends on what you grew up with ...It's my favourite game and I've learnt most of the tricks (and cheese), so of course I'm very biased there.

I find all the old 2D games up to Mario World tough lol ...Especially Mario World's special worlds. I've never dared to touch The Lost Levels. The newer 2D Mario games are a breeze by comparison, but I'll always remember World 9 of New Soup Wii. That one got crazy.

For the 3D games, Champion's Road in 3D World is an absolute nightmare. Spent a few hundred lives on that one. Otherwise, I didn't really find any others as wild ...Maybe the last level in Galaxy 2, but I quit that game a long time ago.

JESUS CHRIST FINALLY IT'S BEEN AN ENTIRE YEAR

The final final level (you know which one I mean if you've unlocked it) is tough as nails, but I liked that the rest of the game is not hard at all. Makes it much easier to replay and blaze through. Already replayed once all the way through (except that one stage) and I love it. My little sister finds it quite hard at times, so I do feel the difficulty is also based on your age and experience with 2D Mario ...especially the old ones. Even I find those quite difficult. Times change, I suppose.

In terms of badges, I just sprint through to get the Spin Jump badge as soon as I can. It's the best by far to me. Music is, uh ...It does the job. Way better than the New series, though, and there are some good tunes if you look for them (mainly during the Wonder segments).

Two words ...

(North America)

I never grew up with Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island, but I feel Super Mario Bros. Wonder is this generation's version of those. I do understand if people who played a lot of the older 2D Mario games will find this one an absolute breeze, so of course it's far from perfect in that regard. To me, though, with my first 2D Mario being NSMB on the DS, the difficulty was just what I want out of Mario games.

Also, sure, the music isn't up there with the classics, but I still liked it. Certainly better quality than the New series in my opinion.

It's a perfect 10 for me. It literally reminded me why I like to play video games in the first place ...and I haven't gotten that feeling since maybe Odyssey but most likely even further back. Absolutely phenomenal and definitely one of my favourite games of all time after my very first playthrough. Already replaying it and the game just gets better and better. I've never enjoyed a game quite as much as this one, honestly, judging from the dumb smiles and laughter that just keep coming no matter how many times I replay a stage. Sure, the difficulty is not too high, but I prefer Mario to be relaxing and just ...fun. The Special World (and especially the very last level) were enough of a moderate challenge to make up for it in my opinion. Then again, I just prefer games that aren't too difficult.

It looks amazing, the controls are perfect and snappy and the entire game is pure quality and just feels like concentrated love, creativity and passion from every developer involved with no hints of rushing, budget limitations or deadlines, polished to a perfect sheen over many years. Hope for sequels that just build on this even further ...

...and for playable Wario and Waluigi lol

I don't care in the slightest about Spidey (Insomniac is a fantastic studio though, so no offense to them), but Mario Wonder has to be one of the best games I've ever played, having literally reminded me why I enjoy video games in the first place. I think it's generation- defining, honestly, which I never expected out of a 2D Mario game since at least 1995, before I was even alive.

I absolutely love them! Especially the one on the pipe ...So funny when I found that secret entrance. It was like it talked directly to me at that moment.

Also, for those who made it through the final final level (you know which one), I think the flowers actually helped me succeed with their cute little encouragement all along the entire thing.

I did change the language to Japanese, though. Not because I didn't enjoy Mick, mostly just because I liked the Japanese better.

I sure wonder what I'll be playing, indeed.

Other than the obvious, I'm trying to play some more HeartGold / SoulSilver as well.

It looks fantastic. Hope it gets a 4K patch on the Switch 2 ...I wouldn't touch anything else about it. Just full 4K resolution on the big screen would perfect this game. Still looks great upscaled, of course, but that's all I want.

...Then again ...If I had to ask for something more, I'd love an update or DLC that adds Wario and Waluigi, Nintendo. Would instantly give you a 10/10. That's it, though, I promise.

Playing it right now ...and it is wonderful. Had to drive all the way into the city to pick it up because my closest electronics store sucks and I really wanted physical on this one, but I'd say it's worth it when you've waited half a decade for a brand new Mario game. Will play some more tonight with my little sister when I take the trip up to my parents' place. She's been looking forward to it all week.