I would definitely say that Castlevania from the late 90s up to the Lords of Shadows reboot was actively tryng to be scary and play the horror tropes. I for one remember playing Castlevania 64 as a child and was definitely terrified a few moments...but again, so I was with some parts of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
In the end I believe the 3D generational leap means everything here. Just look at those episodes, the beginning of the horror game was not in the same place as most other game genres, it needed the early polygonal models from RE, Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark, etc to explode and reach the average public. Save very few niche and barely available games like Clock Tower on the SNES, games from the 2D era could be gory, and bloody, far more than Castlevania, (Splatter House anyone), but scary? Hardly.
Never heard of this spinoff. Still, finishing development for a game less than a year after release doesn't sound all that bad...sure, finishing development before the release is my preferred scenario, but sometimes you can't get all.
Yeah, and soccer is boring, cheerleaders are hot, British food is yucky, comic readers are dorks, people with glasses are smart, white people can't jump, japanese drawings are dirty. Chill out pals, want to be treated as average people with a normal well adjusted hobby? Stop trying to get special treatment and throwing social media tantrums with things like this.
Different people, different needs. Some need to see therapists when their pets die or they end a romantic relationship, and both scenarios are commonly far less threatening for their finances than losing a job. Some people take therapy before they have life changing stressful experiences in order to be more resilient.
Porting issues aside, I am annoyed that as of now, you can't get each game separately from the eShop. Right now is the complete trilogy or bust, which is completely nonsensical, since each game has a separate eShop listing (in which they are listed as 'unavailable, release date December first'...yoinks!). And pretty much all the reviews and analysis agree that City is both the finest game and the finest port.
Yep, IIRC this game had a a different wide screen option than Goldeneye and the rest even if they were all made by Rare. Letterbox Widescreen instead of anamorphic, it was that way back then, so I wouldn't hope on a fix.
Yeah, at first it just seemed random, but after reading it is a Yatterman reference it makes all the sense in the world. Sure, Wario doesn't resemble Tonzura at all, but Waluigi is a dead ringer for Boyakky, and we are talking about the Man who made Waluigi here, not Wario.
You are mistaken, amigo. It was 30 fps in ps2, I still have my old Subsistence double disc at hand. Only MGS 2 was 60 fps back in the PS2, curiously even the Xbox port of MGS 2 substance was 30 fps. Since both 2 and 3 are 60 fps in the HD collection I can see how people get confused with the numbers.
This game is the archetypical NSO good offer...is a game that most nintendo players would love to try and perhaps even beat, but very few would be convinced to give 5 or more bucks for a standalone release.
Considering the number of classics collections Konami has released on Switch (TMNT collection, Contra collection, Castlevania classics collection, Castlevania Advance collection, maybe more I'm forgetting) that seems unlikely.
@SilentHunter382
Doom was an interesting case. The multiplayer was not included on the cart indeed, but it was included in the first update instead as a separate download which kinda screwed people that had no interest in MP...you see that first update and every other subsequent one also included other improvements like increased performance, so in the end their great idea meant that you have a pretty much mandatory +8 GB install in order to get the best single player experience.
Now, I am indeed disappointed with the way the games are being distributed, but let's not ignore this has been a thing since the Switch early days, and many companies, even Nintendo themselves have done it in the past, announcing collections and packages that have not all the games in the cart at all. Here is a brief list from the top of my head:
-Resident Evil 4-5-6 collection.
Only 4 is included on the cart, 5 and 6 are downloadable.
-Assasins Creed Rebel Collection
Only Black Flag is included on the cart, AC Rogue is downloadable.
-FF X Collection
Only FF X is included on the cart, FF X-2 is downloadable.
-Megaman X Collection
Only X1-X4 (AKA vol 1) are included on the cart, X5-X8 (AKA vol 2) are downloadable.
-Bayonetta 2 & 1
Only 2 is included on the cart, Bayo 1 is downloadable, and with a download code at that, meaning only one person can get it, no resale option for this one unlike with the previous examples.
Disregarding the fact that the press has to remain in good graces of the publishers and how the current review scale makes 0-6 pretty much exchangeable, I think the main point here and the reason the score is positive even when the review is a big rant about the overall package is that the core games are just that good and legendary in the videogame industry.
It is like Mario 3D all stars, most reviews concentrated on the negatives (no Mario Galaxy 2, lack of extras, no analog triggers, no Galaxy pointer controls, lazy graphical update, etc) but the scores were still positive because the games included in the compilation were good, and the same goes here.
The thing with this giveaways are that you can always guess which games will be given based on what games are not currently on sale...which right now are the following ones:
Body of Evidence Connection Haunted Creepy Tale Creepy Tale 2 Dream Alone Inner Voices Nonograms Prophecy Pandemic Shooter
Nothing particularly amazing, nonograms is a really bad picross clone, the rest seem to be morbid horror and dark humor fare ...but a few of them have not been given away before.
Where could it be that "think of the children" gif...
At first I thought the PEGI rating was because of the old american stereotype that Europeans feed their children with wine all the time, but that info about how most games don't get an actual rating makes far more sense.
I am not Nintendo Life, but I can see what they are talking about, particularly with all this Mario World comparisons. Mario World was a 2D platformer, just like Mario 3 and dozens others in the NES. And yet, it was a genre defining experience, just like SMB1 and SMB3 were before it. Being able to replay levels to find extra exits, getting all the dragon coins for the sheer pleasure of doing so, having not one but two whole secret worlds to explore aside of the main adventure, having many different routes to reach Bowser at the end, being able to mount a creature that gave you new abilities but also removed others...and a lot other things, those were genre defining features, that then many other games carried and improved. With all that it is hard particularly when you are talking about "the greatest since SMW" to not admit that wonder is just not as revolutionary, and probably no game could ever be, after more than 3 decades of evolution.
Say for example that the NSMB series never existed, then they could be saying that the simultaneous four player game was a genre defining revolution...but since NSMBW was a thing more than a decade ago, it is just old news by now, and four player 2D platformers are common in the eShop.
I do wonder why everyone is mystified with this, store kiosks exclusive demos have always been a thing with Nintendo, hell, I think Nintendo puts more store exclusive demos than eShop demos particularly when Mario is concerned.
For years now you can play demos for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Mario Odyssey and Breathe of the Wild at you average store...and yet, none of those demos is available at the eShop for everyone, was there any outrage then? It is just Nintendo way of doing things.
Yeah, considering the old Wii still allows you to re-download your purchases even when the online functionality was shutdown so many years ago, I think the whole "foreseeable future" is less threatening than it sounds.
Well, for the hot mess that was the Kickstarter he sure knows how to get points with the average gamer with that Konami anecdote. I liked that Petadachi was mentioned, it would be interesting to know how Run Box Run fared.
The new docks are so safe that it seems you can hardly get a Switch bricking one even if you tried. Even the cheap covert docks ripoffs not from Genki are apparently safe, I have used a chinese one for more than two years with zero issues.
Mk 11 was a last gen game. Mk 1 on the other hand is a current gen game...and the Switch is mostly comparable in brute power with last last gen mostly.
Take for example the GBC...ports from NES games like Super Mario Bros or Ghost and Goblins were excellent and even improved. Ports from SNES games like Donkey Kong Country and MegaMan X were graphically worse but managed to still add a free surprises and be fairly good if limited conversions. But GBC ports from even newer games like Street Fighter Alpha and Resident Evil 1 were ridiculously compromised. The little thing just couldn't manage so much, plain and simple, no amount of developer wizardry would be able to put RE1 on GBC in any decent form.
Ahhh, but you see, that "Nintendo magic" is precisely the reason the game was maligned so much. The game being well made, the microtransactions fair, and it achieving profit and popularity was seen as a dangerous thing for many out there, either because they were afraid it would steal resources from the "true Mario Kart" or because it would make Nintendo double down on mobile projects instead of focusing on the Switch. Therefore, the need to keep the game down, specially if it was reasonably good.
For everyone who says he looks nothing like JCVD, I think the reason is that this design is a compromise situation in which they try a middle ground between classic Cage and classic Van Damme.
Unlike Nitara who was basically a filler character in just one core game and therefore they could completely change her facial structure without anyone caring... Cage has appeared in almost all of the games in the franchise, and his mug is quite familiar to everyone. If they put 100%VD over 25 years of classic Cage they would risk alienating a significant sector of the fanbase. In short, looking like Cage is more important than looking like Van Damme for this character, but they attempted both anyway.
People expecting an exponential increase from Turok 2 should be prepared for a brusque awakening. Turok 3 was far more linear and had much smaller maps than the T2 labyrinths.
I played both games more than 20 years ago (and I was a non english speaking 12 year old kid playing mature games thanks to inexistent parent supervision), but while I was never able to clear a single Turok 1-2 level, I was able to finish the whole of Turok 3 in a single weekend (not at 100% of course). And since back then we rented most of our N64 experiences, that made Turok 3 a far more enjoyable game than the first two for me.
Once already Konami did the impossible and duplicated the Framerate of Super Bomberman R at the cost of halving the resolution. I would prefer such option with this game. Going by the fact that they can only reach 1080p in current gen consoles, such goal is surely very taxing for the poor old Switch.
@Razzy
People actually preferring the janky option of having the frame rato changing between 60 to 30 all the time surprises me, and make me think they just dislike seeing "lesser numbers"(like the good old console wars and how people were mad a Sega game had xx megabits while the Nintendo version had less megabits)...even though those same lower numbers will make for a more stable overall experience.
Curious factoid, in the USA the Mario Movie is showing this weekend in 152 theaters. Sure, is not much, but that number is right now above movies like: Ruby Gillman, Little Mermaid, GOTG3, The Flash and Fast X, all of which were released one or more months after Mario.
No way in hell. Now on the other hand, if the record is what they want, they should release a special limited DS redesign with a few bells and whistles something like "20th anniversary edition" to get the extra million required and put a Nintendo machine in the top position.
Well, RF3 was the last game in the franchise with just bachelorettes. When Tides of Destiny, 4 and 5 added Bachelors to the mix you have to divide resources and that gives us less bachelorettes by default.
Speaking of which, even though I loved the game and it's characters, I personally felt that with RF3 the series just went overboard with the gimmicky characters. Sure, that gimmicks gave them a more varied range of personalities and more differences between themselves, but also made them painfully bidimensional.
The game that I believe gave us the best balance in "gimmicks vs genericness" was Rune Factory Frontier, which incidentally is the game with the higher number of bachelorettes in the franchise, with 13. Xseed claim that 3 have the biggest number is either restricting the competition to numbered games or they just plain forgot about Frontier.
Too many things to consider here. Apart from the diminishing sales, Miyamoto seemingly personal indifference towards the franchise and the exit of Imamura from Nintendo, the biggest point I think is...
The futuristic racing genre appeal if just far too limited for a big AAA release in the current era of videogames. Kart and mascots racers have their all family appeal, and racing games with real cars always also are able cater to both sim (Gran Turismo, Forza, Grid) and arcade (Cruisin, Burnout, Asphalt) enthusiasts. But futuristic racers...they lack that universal appeal. There is a reason why the last couple Wipeout games were relegated to Sony portables and why newer releases in the genre are indie or download only projects. Futuristic racers is just too serious for people that want a funny zany racer...and too funny and zany for people that want a serious racer. Being in between both spectrums, it ends losing both.
The much lauded Fast RMX game is a good example. In my many years with the Switch, playing dozens of multiplayer games with tons of friends and family alike, spending hours with games like Smash, Mario Kart, Clubhouse games, Mario Maker 2, Mario 3D World, Runbow, Goose Game, Overcooked, Moving Out, Lovers, Piku Niku, Asphalt 9, Ring Fit, Labo VR, Art of Balance, Heave Ho, Mario Party and a long etc....I have NEVER not even once, convinced anyone: long time gamers, casuals, hardcores, kids, teens, adults, women or men to play more than a single multiplayer match in Fast RMX. It just doesn't have that broad appeal, and no, I don't think putting C. Falcon or Samurai Goroh mug alongside the "cars" at the selection screen would that much difference with your average Joe. Which is a shame, because I do enjoy playing Fast RMX alone, just as I enjoyed F-Zero X and GX before it, but I have to do so alone.
Played this game quite a lot back in the day. Finished the whole thing and even snatched many extras, save for some of the hardest optional challenges.
Still...I think the game would look horrible just remastered in HD for the switch. Unlike say Monster Hunter, Luigi's Mansion DM or even Mario 3D Land, the models here are painfully rough and simple particularly on the ground sections, it gets a pass on 3DS because the quick fire action and low resolution makes everything easier on the eyes. Nothing short of a complete from the ground remake would save this from looking like a mess in HD...and unfortunately, I think that would be far too costly for Nintendo to do considering eat they would get back in sales.
A duo team of Scorpion/Sub Zero with the same pose and attacks but different special moves (like Pyra/Myhtra but even more similar from one another) would be the best option in this case. It would even "reference" how in the first handful of MK all the characters had the same generic attacks and only differed in special moves, and many were played by the same actors.
As for the moves, I don't see it that hard. The regular moves with the blood missing and the finisher could be named a Smashality to keep the cheekiness and the series tradition of naming everything "-ality". But as someone else said, biggest hurdle is how MK is a non entity in Japan.
The download size of such a thing would be a freaking monstrosity, adding to that the kind of work it would need for such a port, I don't see Konami going with a switch native version for such an endeavour. Most likely they would use a cloud release like Kingdom Hearts...which ironically enough, might be the very thing the first volume needs to get in the good graces of everyone.
Sure, you need to download 50 GB of junk for a 2 GB card, but at least you will have that junk on your system at all times and not require a constant stream and connection.
But you are calling SE for celebrating, and companies don't celebrate for their games going viral, they celebrate for getting their money back and then some. Recognition and fame means squat without the funds to back it. After all, Sony didn't celebrate that Morbius became a meme machine phenomenon.
As simple and bad the animation is, I do find what is shown here charming. Unfortuntaley my niece that was into Paw Patrol two years ago is right now all about Mario, Spiderman and Marvel, so I dont´t hink he wwould ask for this game right now or in holiday season anyway.
Still, I do applaud the developers. The three main Paw Patrol games have shown a very clear evolution, from 2D stages, to 3D stages to now 3D open world.
I think the best it could do anymore is to surpass Fallen Kingdom...and I hope it does, I hated that sequel. As for the rest or even Black Panther, the millions needed are just far too many, the last 50 million jump from Incredibles 2 to Frozen 1 took too much time, it is not going to repeat that feat in june, not with the new Spiderman movie taking all the animation/family public space and interest that the Little Mermaid couldn't do.
As for inflation, you take it far too seriously (but going by this topic, so you do many things). Is just another piece of data, there is a reason why the poster of Gone with the Wind is the first thing shown in the webpage you just posted, the fact that it remains the highest grossing film adjusted for inflation is interesting, as is the fact that the Mario movie is the 16 biggest blockbuster in NA adjusted for inflation, or the fact that the Super Mario Bros movie is the highest grossing of ALL TIME in Mexico going by dollar sales (it was tremendously popular, no doubt...but the reported numbers were helped thanks to a particularly weak dollar exchange rate in the past months), or the fact that Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train is the highest grossing anime film ever and was the wroldwide number one hit in 2020 (thanks to that little problem named covid-19), and so and so. Different numbers, different markest, different takes gives us a better picture always, as you are indeed repeting ad nauseum about the Little Mermaid, marrying to a single number or a single chart would never give us the whole picture.
It is hard, pretty much every big budget Mon collecting game is immediately dismissed because everyone calls it a "Wannabe Pokemon killer" even when the developers have little to no intention of killing anything, and they are subconsciously giving themselves to the notion that it can only be ONE big Mon franchise out there.
The same applies with Smash Bros and the limited success of any other platform fighter, it is either bigger than the original, or an absolute failure, no in between.
@Ryu_Niiyama
Oh, I wish they wouldn't use all the old name localization anymore, but last time I checked, even in Smash Bros spell names are named with the very cringey sounding to me: frizz, kafrizz, thwack, etc...instead of the more badass sounding: Mera, merasoma, bejirama, etc...which is how I first knew those spells going by the Spanish dub of the anime back in the 90s. I would bet this game will also include the localized names, but alas, so be it. I too hope like you for a Japanese voice option.
In the end, it will be a game for fans of this particular spinoff, I don't believe it will sell all that hotly since thera are not that many of us. But for someone like me who spend 20+ years of his life thinking we have seen the last of this series already, all this support (Dai in Jump Force, the new anime, this game, etch) is a dream come true XD. You seem a little ruffled, I hope I haven't bothered you for some reason.
I loved the original anime series...the new one is alright, but to me it always missed something about the original (music, rough designs, and of course the Spanish dub, which was just glorious). Still, I do love the series enough to get this game no questions asked.
@Ryu_Niiyama True, true, Strash is the name of the most famous attack. But for one this DQ spinoff was known worldwide with many different names and languages, I for one have more attachment to "Corte Letal de Avan" (roughly Avan Lethal Slash) than to "Avan Strash". In the end, I do believe it would be for the better to change the subtitle for the western release. Gamers are a simple and petty bunch, they have always been (puck-man, anyone) this name is just asking for many to dismiss it just because the title sounds like and includes the word "trash". I can already see the comments this very site will have when the game gets average to bad sales numbers "lol, I don't know anything about this game but what they expected when they put trash on their very own game".
@JohnnyMind Most likely the same reason we don't get many movie tie-in games anymore. Games for current consoles are far too expensive to produce, especially when they would most likely remain Japan exclusive. While the Super Famicon and even the PSP got games for niche and popular animes like Ghost Sweeper Mikami, To Love RU and a batallion of Sailor Moon games, current consoles are just lucky enough to get games from bonafide worldwide hits like Kimetsu no Yaiba and One Piece.
The Gamecube version is widely considered better, but your mileage might vary:
Content: Gamecube has extra bosses, new characters and a few new custcenes and lore details, including a sidequest that practically goes for the whole game. There is one sidequest exclusive to the Dreamcast version that involved some of the sytem exclusive features (the visual memory unit) but the rewards are still available in the cube edition trough other means, same with the online distributed "DLC" equipment. In whole, there is far more content exclusive to the Gamecube version.
Graphics: Slightly better graphics on Gamecube, with better textures, but thanks to I suppose the porting process there are a couple extra glitches and framerate drops on Gamecube, but nothing too frequent or distracting. This category might be a tie.
Sound: The Dreamcast version is widely praised for having FAR better music quality than the gamecube version, for reasons of space and because the compositions were created with the system strengths first and foremost. This one is definitely a point for the DC edition.
Gameplay: The Gamecube version reduced the random enemy rate encounter and rebalanced the experience rewards to make the game less grindish.
So in the end, you can see why the Gamecube version has a slight edge, unless of course you consider sound the most important part of the game.
Articles like this are always useful because we can see who among the present are the true hard-ass fanboys among the fanbase. While pretty much everyone agrees with the criticisim presented here, either because they truly care about accessibility or because it is the expected and nice thing to do...but the ones that don't? there we have the purest of the purest nfanatics that we can find.
Comments 558
Re: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Is Apparently "Set Entirely Within Lumiose City"
A pokemon themed GTA style sandbox game could be crazy enough to work.
Re: Horror Game Doc 'TerrorBytes' To Include Interviews With 'Eternal Darkness' Director
I would definitely say that Castlevania from the late 90s up to the Lords of Shadows reboot was actively tryng to be scary and play the horror tropes. I for one remember playing Castlevania 64 as a child and was definitely terrified a few moments...but again, so I was with some parts of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
In the end I believe the 3D generational leap means everything here. Just look at those episodes, the beginning of the horror game was not in the same place as most other game genres, it needed the early polygonal models from RE, Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark, etc to explode and reach the average public. Save very few niche and barely available games like Clock Tower on the SNES, games from the 2D era could be gory, and bloody, far more than Castlevania, (Splatter House anyone), but scary? Hardly.
Re: Minecraft Legends Development Ends As Final Update Launches
Never heard of this spinoff. Still, finishing development for a game less than a year after release doesn't sound all that bad...sure, finishing development before the release is my preferred scenario, but sometimes you can't get all.
Re: Soapbox: "Go Outside, Get Some Fresh Air" - Why Won't Outmoded Gamer Stereotypes Die?
Yeah, and soccer is boring, cheerleaders are hot, British food is yucky, comic readers are dorks, people with glasses are smart, white people can't jump, japanese drawings are dirty. Chill out pals, want to be treated as average people with a normal well adjusted hobby? Stop trying to get special treatment and throwing social media tantrums with things like this.
Re: Feature: Nintendo Switch Ports We'd Love To See In 2024
Dragon's Crown and SOTN are at the top of my list.
Re: 30 Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games To Look Forward To In 2024
From the list only Paper Mario and Silksong for me...but I'm also really looking forward to Little Kitty Big City.
Re: 'Armello' Developer League Of Geeks Lays Off Over Half Its Staff
@Chaotic_Neutral
Different people, different needs. Some need to see therapists when their pets die or they end a romantic relationship, and both scenarios are commonly far less threatening for their finances than losing a job. Some people take therapy before they have life changing stressful experiences in order to be more resilient.
Re: Video: Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis of Batman: Arkham Trilogy
Porting issues aside, I am annoyed that as of now, you can't get each game separately from the eShop. Right now is the complete trilogy or bust, which is completely nonsensical, since each game has a separate eShop listing (in which they are listed as 'unavailable, release date December first'...yoinks!). And pretty much all the reviews and analysis agree that City is both the finest game and the finest port.
Re: Jet Force Gemini's Widescreen Mode Reportedly "Broken" On Switch
Yep, IIRC this game had a a different wide screen option than Goldeneye and the rest even if they were all made by Rare. Letterbox Widescreen instead of anamorphic, it was that way back then, so I wouldn't hope on a fix.
Re: Random: Waluigi Designer Shares Scrapped Character Art Of "Walpeach"
Yeah, at first it just seemed random, but after reading it is a Yatterman reference it makes all the sense in the world. Sure, Wario doesn't resemble Tonzura at all, but Waluigi is a dead ringer for Boyakky, and we are talking about the Man who made Waluigi here, not Wario.
Re: 'Atari 50' Is Getting More Games Via Free Updates, 12 Dropping Next Week
Not playable Computer Space still
Re: Site News: Nintendo Life Turns 18 Today
I already knew that we shared the date, but now I also realize that I have lived exactly twice as long as this site, neato.
Re: Mini Review: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Still Outstanding On Switch
@homero_jimeno
You are mistaken, amigo. It was 30 fps in ps2, I still have my old Subsistence double disc at hand. Only MGS 2 was 60 fps back in the PS2, curiously even the Xbox port of MGS 2 substance was 30 fps. Since both 2 and 3 are 60 fps in the HD collection I can see how people get confused with the numbers.
Re: Review: The Mysterious Murasame Castle - The Legend Of Zelda's Action-Focused Sibling
This game is the archetypical NSO good offer...is a game that most nintendo players would love to try and perhaps even beat, but very few would be convinced to give 5 or more bucks for a standalone release.
Re: PSA: Don't Forget The Meaty Downloads Required For Metal Gear Solid's Physical Edition
@MSaturn
Considering the number of classics collections Konami has released on Switch (TMNT collection, Contra collection, Castlevania classics collection, Castlevania Advance collection, maybe more I'm forgetting) that seems unlikely.
@SilentHunter382
Doom was an interesting case. The multiplayer was not included on the cart indeed, but it was included in the first update instead as a separate download which kinda screwed people that had no interest in MP...you see that first update and every other subsequent one also included other improvements like increased performance, so in the end their great idea meant that you have a pretty much mandatory +8 GB install in order to get the best single player experience.
Now, I am indeed disappointed with the way the games are being distributed, but let's not ignore this has been a thing since the Switch early days, and many companies, even Nintendo themselves have done it in the past, announcing collections and packages that have not all the games in the cart at all. Here is a brief list from the top of my head:
-Resident Evil 4-5-6 collection.
Only 4 is included on the cart, 5 and 6 are downloadable.
-Assasins Creed Rebel Collection
Only Black Flag is included on the cart, AC Rogue is downloadable.
-FF X Collection
Only FF X is included on the cart, FF X-2 is downloadable.
-Megaman X Collection
Only X1-X4 (AKA vol 1) are included on the cart, X5-X8 (AKA vol 2) are downloadable.
-Bayonetta 2 & 1
Only 2 is included on the cart, Bayo 1 is downloadable, and with a download code at that, meaning only one person can get it, no resale option for this one unlike with the previous examples.
Re: Round Up: The Reviews Are In For Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1
@Maddie47
Disregarding the fact that the press has to remain in good graces of the publishers and how the current review scale makes 0-6 pretty much exchangeable, I think the main point here and the reason the score is positive even when the review is a big rant about the overall package is that the core games are just that good and legendary in the videogame industry.
It is like Mario 3D all stars, most reviews concentrated on the negatives (no Mario Galaxy 2, lack of extras, no analog triggers, no Galaxy pointer controls, lazy graphical update, etc) but the scores were still positive because the games included in the compilation were good, and the same goes here.
Re: No Gravity Games Is Giving Away 7 Free Switch Games This Month (North America)
The thing with this giveaways are that you can always guess which games will be given based on what games are not currently on sale...which right now are the following ones:
Body of Evidence
Connection Haunted
Creepy Tale
Creepy Tale 2
Dream Alone
Inner Voices
Nonograms Prophecy
Pandemic Shooter
Nothing particularly amazing, nonograms is a really bad picross clone, the rest seem to be morbid horror and dark humor fare ...but a few of them have not been given away before.
Re: Random: This Drink Driving Game Is A Nasty Blemish On The Switch eShop
Where could it be that "think of the children" gif...
At first I thought the PEGI rating was because of the old american stereotype that Europeans feed their children with wine all the time, but that info about how most games don't get an actual rating makes far more sense.
Re: Review: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - The Best 2D Mario Since The Super NES
@Lofoten
I am not Nintendo Life, but I can see what they are talking about, particularly with all this Mario World comparisons. Mario World was a 2D platformer, just like Mario 3 and dozens others in the NES. And yet, it was a genre defining experience, just like SMB1 and SMB3 were before it. Being able to replay levels to find extra exits, getting all the dragon coins for the sheer pleasure of doing so, having not one but two whole secret worlds to explore aside of the main adventure, having many different routes to reach Bowser at the end, being able to mount a creature that gave you new abilities but also removed others...and a lot other things, those were genre defining features, that then many other games carried and improved. With all that it is hard particularly when you are talking about "the greatest since SMW" to not admit that wonder is just not as revolutionary, and probably no game could ever be, after more than 3 decades of evolution.
Say for example that the NSMB series never existed, then they could be saying that the simultaneous four player game was a genre defining revolution...but since NSMBW was a thing more than a decade ago, it is just old news by now, and four player 2D platformers are common in the eShop.
Re: Random: Some Switch Fans Want A Super Mario Bros. Wonder eShop Demo
I do wonder why everyone is mystified with this, store kiosks exclusive demos have always been a thing with Nintendo, hell, I think Nintendo puts more store exclusive demos than eShop demos particularly when Mario is concerned.
For years now you can play demos for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Mario Odyssey and Breathe of the Wild at you average store...and yet, none of those demos is available at the eShop for everyone, was there any outrage then? It is just Nintendo way of doing things.
Re: When Does 3DS And Wii U Online Shut Down? Nintendo Online Closure Guide
Yeah, considering the old Wii still allows you to re-download your purchases even when the online functionality was shutdown so many years ago, I think the whole "foreseeable future" is less threatening than it sounds.
Re: Feature: "We Wouldn’t Give The Silent Hill IP To A Team Like Yours" - Dementium: The Ward's Origins And Switch Return
Well, for the hot mess that was the Kickstarter he sure knows how to get points with the average gamer with that Konami anecdote. I liked that Petadachi was mentioned, it would be interesting to know how Run Box Run fared.
Re: Latest Genki Kickstarter Offers New Portable Switch Dock, iPad Connectivity And More
The new docks are so safe that it seems you can hardly get a Switch bricking one even if you tried. Even the cheap covert docks ripoffs not from Genki are apparently safe, I have used a chinese one for more than two years with zero issues.
Re: Feature: From Piston Hurricane To Today: Why Latinx In Gaming Exists
"Escueiita"
"Esculita"
🤣You guys managed to botch the same word twice in two different ways in barely the same paragraph.
And for the record, not offended, just amused.
Re: Video: Digital Foundry's Technical Analysis Of Mortal Kombat 1 On Switch
@Giancarlothomaz
Mk 11 was a last gen game. Mk 1 on the other hand is a current gen game...and the Switch is mostly comparable in brute power with last last gen mostly.
Take for example the GBC...ports from NES games like Super Mario Bros or Ghost and Goblins were excellent and even improved.
Ports from SNES games like Donkey Kong Country and MegaMan X were graphically worse but managed to still add a free surprises and be fairly good if limited conversions.
But GBC ports from even newer games like Street Fighter Alpha and Resident Evil 1 were ridiculously compromised. The little thing just couldn't manage so much, plain and simple, no amount of developer wizardry would be able to put RE1 on GBC in any decent form.
Re: Mario Kart Tour Will Receive No New Content After October's 'Battle Tour', Says Nintendo
@Coalescence
Ahhh, but you see, that "Nintendo magic" is precisely the reason the game was maligned so much. The game being well made, the microtransactions fair, and it achieving profit and popularity was seen as a dangerous thing for many out there, either because they were afraid it would steal resources from the "true Mario Kart" or because it would make Nintendo double down on mobile projects instead of focusing on the Switch. Therefore, the need to keep the game down, specially if it was reasonably good.
Re: Mortal Kombat 1 Shares "First Look" At Jean-Claude Van Damme As Johnny Cage
For everyone who says he looks nothing like JCVD, I think the reason is that this design is a compromise situation in which they try a middle ground between classic Cage and classic Van Damme.
Unlike Nitara who was basically a filler character in just one core game and therefore they could completely change her facial structure without anyone caring... Cage has appeared in almost all of the games in the franchise, and his mug is quite familiar to everyone. If they put 100%VD over 25 years of classic Cage they would risk alienating a significant sector of the fanbase. In short, looking like Cage is more important than looking like Van Damme for this character, but they attempted both anyway.
Re: Nintendo Expands Its Switch Online N64 Library With Another Game Next Week
If F-Zero X was not enough to get N64 SP editions, this game surely will be. Getting all the extra modes would give most people nightmares.
Re: Turok 3: Shadow Of Oblivion Remaster Announced For Switch
People expecting an exponential increase from Turok 2 should be prepared for a brusque awakening. Turok 3 was far more linear and had much smaller maps than the T2 labyrinths.
I played both games more than 20 years ago (and I was a non english speaking 12 year old kid playing mature games thanks to inexistent parent supervision), but while I was never able to clear a single Turok 1-2 level, I was able to finish the whole of Turok 3 in a single weekend (not at 100% of course). And since back then we rented most of our N64 experiences, that made Turok 3 a far more enjoyable game than the first two for me.
Re: Metal Gear Solid 2 And 3 Will Have Lower Frame Rates On Switch, Konami Confirms
Once already Konami did the impossible and duplicated the Framerate of Super Bomberman R at the cost of halving the resolution. I would prefer such option with this game. Going by the fact that they can only reach 1080p in current gen consoles, such goal is surely very taxing for the poor old Switch.
@Razzy
People actually preferring the janky option of having the frame rato changing between 60 to 30 all the time surprises me, and make me think they just dislike seeing "lesser numbers"(like the good old console wars and how people were mad a Sega game had xx megabits while the Nintendo version had less megabits)...even though those same lower numbers will make for a more stable overall experience.
Re: The Super Mario Bros. Movie Pulled In Over 168 Million Viewers At The Box Office, Says Nintendo
Curious factoid, in the USA the Mario Movie is showing this weekend in 152 theaters. Sure, is not much, but that number is right now above movies like: Ruby Gillman, Little Mermaid, GOTG3, The Flash and Fast X, all of which were released one or more months after Mario.
Re: Every First-Party Nintendo Switch Game That Has Sold Over One Million Copies
@lacaras4
Not counting digital sales:
-Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition
-Advance Wars
-Tokyo Mirage Sessions
-Sushi Striker
-Labo Robot Kit
-Labo Vehicle Kit
-Labo VR Kit
-Daemon x Machina
-Snipperclips
-Everybody 1-2 Switch
Re: Poll: Do You Think Switch Can Catch PS2's Total Sales Before 'Switch 2' Arrives?
No way in hell. Now on the other hand, if the record is what they want, they should release a special limited DS redesign with a few bells and whistles something like "20th anniversary edition" to get the extra million required and put a Nintendo machine in the top position.
Re: "We Have To Do This Now" - Sonic Mania Devs On Creating Chaotic Yo-Yo Platformer Penny's Big Breakaway
I don't know everyone's problem. Who wouldn't love to play as a female manic midget with George Washington's hair.
Re: Double Dragon Collection Announced For Switch, Includes Six Classic Beat 'Em Ups
No Double Dragon Zeebo? Not interested.
Re: Rune Factory 3 Special Trailer Introduces All The Ladies You'll Be Flirting With
@Arawn93
Well, RF3 was the last game in the franchise with just bachelorettes. When Tides of Destiny, 4 and 5 added Bachelors to the mix you have to divide resources and that gives us less bachelorettes by default.
Speaking of which, even though I loved the game and it's characters, I personally felt that with RF3 the series just went overboard with the gimmicky characters. Sure, that gimmicks gave them a more varied range of personalities and more differences between themselves, but also made them painfully bidimensional.
The game that I believe gave us the best balance in "gimmicks vs genericness" was Rune Factory Frontier, which incidentally is the game with the higher number of bachelorettes in the franchise, with 13. Xseed claim that 3 have the biggest number is either restricting the competition to numbered games or they just plain forgot about Frontier.
Re: Takaya Imamura: F-Zero Hasn't Been Revived Because Mario Kart Is Nintendo's "Most Popular Racing Game"
Too many things to consider here. Apart from the diminishing sales, Miyamoto seemingly personal indifference towards the franchise and the exit of Imamura from Nintendo, the biggest point I think is...
The futuristic racing genre appeal if just far too limited for a big AAA release in the current era of videogames. Kart and mascots racers have their all family appeal, and racing games with real cars always also are able cater to both sim (Gran Turismo, Forza, Grid) and arcade (Cruisin, Burnout, Asphalt) enthusiasts. But futuristic racers...they lack that universal appeal. There is a reason why the last couple Wipeout games were relegated to Sony portables and why newer releases in the genre are indie or download only projects. Futuristic racers is just too serious for people that want a funny zany racer...and too funny and zany for people that want a serious racer. Being in between both spectrums, it ends losing both.
The much lauded Fast RMX game is a good example. In my many years with the Switch, playing dozens of multiplayer games with tons of friends and family alike, spending hours with games like Smash, Mario Kart, Clubhouse games, Mario Maker 2, Mario 3D World, Runbow, Goose Game, Overcooked, Moving Out, Lovers, Piku Niku, Asphalt 9, Ring Fit, Labo VR, Art of Balance, Heave Ho, Mario Party and a long etc....I have NEVER not even once, convinced anyone: long time gamers, casuals, hardcores, kids, teens, adults, women or men to play more than a single multiplayer match in Fast RMX. It just doesn't have that broad appeal, and no, I don't think putting C. Falcon or Samurai Goroh mug alongside the "cars" at the selection screen would that much difference with your average Joe. Which is a shame, because I do enjoy playing Fast RMX alone, just as I enjoyed F-Zero X and GX before it, but I have to do so alone.
Re: Random: Sakurai Explains Why True Twin-Stick Controls Weren't Possible For Kid Icarus: Uprising
Played this game quite a lot back in the day. Finished the whole thing and even snatched many extras, save for some of the hardest optional challenges.
Still...I think the game would look horrible just remastered in HD for the switch. Unlike say Monster Hunter, Luigi's Mansion DM or even Mario 3D Land, the models here are painfully rough and simple particularly on the ground sections, it gets a pass on 3DS because the quick fire action and low resolution makes everything easier on the eyes. Nothing short of a complete from the ground remake would save this from looking like a mess in HD...and unfortunately, I think that would be far too costly for Nintendo to do considering eat they would get back in sales.
Re: Random: Mortal Kombat Co-Creator Knows Who He'd Add To Smash Bros., If Nintendo Was To Ask
A duo team of Scorpion/Sub Zero with the same pose and attacks but different special moves (like Pyra/Myhtra but even more similar from one another) would be the best option in this case. It would even "reference" how in the first handful of MK all the characters had the same generic attacks and only differed in special moves, and many were played by the same actors.
As for the moves, I don't see it that hard. The regular moves with the blood missing and the finisher could be named a Smashality to keep the cheekiness and the series tradition of naming everything "-ality". But as someone else said, biggest hurdle is how MK is a non entity in Japan.
Re: Rumour: Metal Gear Solid 4, 5, and Peace Walker May Be Included In Vol. 2 Collection
The download size of such a thing would be a freaking monstrosity, adding to that the kind of work it would need for such a port, I don't see Konami going with a switch native version for such an endeavour. Most likely they would use a cloud release like Kingdom Hearts...which ironically enough, might be the very thing the first volume needs to get in the good graces of everyone.
Sure, you need to download 50 GB of junk for a 2 GB card, but at least you will have that junk on your system at all times and not require a constant stream and connection.
Re: Rumour: Universal Closing "Big Deal" With Nintendo For Zelda Illumination Movie
@kai_fi
Just for the trivia factoid, he does say two clear words and forms a complete coherent phrase with "come on" in Wind Waker, so there is that XD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNh4QCkbOj0
Re: Square Enix Celebrates As Octopath Traveler II Ships 1 Million Units
@Rykdrew
But you are calling SE for celebrating, and companies don't celebrate for their games going viral, they celebrate for getting their money back and then some. Recognition and fame means squat without the funds to back it. After all, Sony didn't celebrate that Morbius became a meme machine phenomenon.
Re: Paw Patrol World Brings Open-World To Adventure Bay This Year
As simple and bad the animation is, I do find what is shown here charming. Unfortuntaley my niece that was into Paw Patrol two years ago is right now all about Mario, Spiderman and Marvel, so I dont´t hink he wwould ask for this game right now or in holiday season anyway.
Still, I do applaud the developers. The three main Paw Patrol games have shown a very clear evolution, from 2D stages, to 3D stages to now 3D open world.
Re: Mario Movie Surpasses Disney's Animated Hit Frozen At The Box Office
@RetroGames
I think the best it could do anymore is to surpass Fallen Kingdom...and I hope it does, I hated that sequel. As for the rest or even Black Panther, the millions needed are just far too many, the last 50 million jump from Incredibles 2 to Frozen 1 took too much time, it is not going to repeat that feat in june, not with the new Spiderman movie taking all the animation/family public space and interest that the Little Mermaid couldn't do.
As for inflation, you take it far too seriously (but going by this topic, so you do many things). Is just another piece of data, there is a reason why the poster of Gone with the Wind is the first thing shown in the webpage you just posted, the fact that it remains the highest grossing film adjusted for inflation is interesting, as is the fact that the Mario movie is the 16 biggest blockbuster in NA adjusted for inflation, or the fact that the Super Mario Bros movie is the highest grossing of ALL TIME in Mexico going by dollar sales (it was tremendously popular, no doubt...but the reported numbers were helped thanks to a particularly weak dollar exchange rate in the past months), or the fact that Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train is the highest grossing anime film ever and was the wroldwide number one hit in 2020 (thanks to that little problem named covid-19), and so and so. Different numbers, different markest, different takes gives us a better picture always, as you are indeed repeting ad nauseum about the Little Mermaid, marrying to a single number or a single chart would never give us the whole picture.
Re: Soapbox: Pokémon Desperately Needs A Rival, But Who's Big Enough To Take It On?
It is hard, pretty much every big budget Mon collecting game is immediately dismissed because everyone calls it a "Wannabe Pokemon killer" even when the developers have little to no intention of killing anything, and they are subconsciously giving themselves to the notion that it can only be ONE big Mon franchise out there.
The same applies with Smash Bros and the limited success of any other platform fighter, it is either bigger than the original, or an absolute failure, no in between.
Re: Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure Of Dai Launches On Switch This September
@Ryu_Niiyama
Oh, I wish they wouldn't use all the old name localization anymore, but last time I checked, even in Smash Bros spell names are named with the very cringey sounding to me: frizz, kafrizz, thwack, etc...instead of the more badass sounding: Mera, merasoma, bejirama, etc...which is how I first knew those spells going by the Spanish dub of the anime back in the 90s. I would bet this game will also include the localized names, but alas, so be it. I too hope like you for a Japanese voice option.
In the end, it will be a game for fans of this particular spinoff, I don't believe it will sell all that hotly since thera are not that many of us. But for someone like me who spend 20+ years of his life thinking we have seen the last of this series already, all this support (Dai in Jump Force, the new anime, this game, etch) is a dream come true XD. You seem a little ruffled, I hope I haven't bothered you for some reason.
Re: Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure Of Dai Launches On Switch This September
I loved the original anime series...the new one is alright, but to me it always missed something about the original (music, rough designs, and of course the Spanish dub, which was just glorious). Still, I do love the series enough to get this game no questions asked.
@Ryu_Niiyama
True, true, Strash is the name of the most famous attack. But for one this DQ spinoff was known worldwide with many different names and languages, I for one have more attachment to "Corte Letal de Avan" (roughly Avan Lethal Slash) than to "Avan Strash". In the end, I do believe it would be for the better to change the subtitle for the western release. Gamers are a simple and petty bunch, they have always been (puck-man, anyone) this name is just asking for many to dismiss it just because the title sounds like and includes the word "trash". I can already see the comments this very site will have when the game gets average to bad sales numbers "lol, I don't know anything about this game but what they expected when they put trash on their very own game".
@JohnnyMind
Most likely the same reason we don't get many movie tie-in games anymore. Games for current consoles are far too expensive to produce, especially when they would most likely remain Japan exclusive. While the Super Famicon and even the PSP got games for niche and popular animes like Ghost Sweeper Mikami, To Love RU and a batallion of Sailor Moon games, current consoles are just lucky enough to get games from bonafide worldwide hits like Kimetsu no Yaiba and One Piece.
Re: DAEMON X MACHINA: Titanic Scion Announced, Here's The First Teaser
Rune Factory 6 and the next new Story of Seasons games were shown with real time graphics, I´m hyped.
Re: 'Sky Oceans: Wings For Hire' Is A Skies Of Arcadia-Inspired JRPG Coming To Switch
@Shiro28
The Gamecube version is widely considered better, but your mileage might vary:
Content: Gamecube has extra bosses, new characters and a few new custcenes and lore details, including a sidequest that practically goes for the whole game. There is one sidequest exclusive to the Dreamcast version that involved some of the sytem exclusive features (the visual memory unit) but the rewards are still available in the cube edition trough other means, same with the online distributed "DLC" equipment. In whole, there is far more content exclusive to the Gamecube version.
Graphics: Slightly better graphics on Gamecube, with better textures, but thanks to I suppose the porting process there are a couple extra glitches and framerate drops on Gamecube, but nothing too frequent or distracting. This category might be a tie.
Sound: The Dreamcast version is widely praised for having FAR better music quality than the gamecube version, for reasons of space and because the compositions were created with the system strengths first and foremost. This one is definitely a point for the DC edition.
Gameplay: The Gamecube version reduced the random enemy rate encounter and rebalanced the experience rewards to make the game less grindish.
So in the end, you can see why the Gamecube version has a slight edge, unless of course you consider sound the most important part of the game.
Re: Soapbox: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Straight Up Fails In Just One Respect: Accessibility
Articles like this are always useful because we can see who among the present are the true hard-ass fanboys among the fanbase. While pretty much everyone agrees with the criticisim presented here, either because they truly care about accessibility or because it is the expected and nice thing to do...but the ones that don't? there we have the purest of the purest nfanatics that we can find.