@RadioHedgeFund
I'm American and I'm with you. I do prefer what @-wc- proposes, though (and we can keep MAR10 day that way, too). Also non-liquid ingredients should be in weight measurements, lumber dimensions shouldn't be labeled so silly or tenths of a cent used in advertising gas prices, etc. Society is slow to change, however, and needs a reason to care.
Has anyone here played a twin-stick platformer before? I feel like prototyping this right now... with right-analog for aiming, I think I'd prefer d-pad for walking... maybe even dpad-up for jumping as opposed to using shoulder buttons and triggers... but that's why I'd want to prototype it. With many other abilities added, I'm wondering about how it's all managed. Metroid Dread aiming controls seem preferable in my minds-eye, but now I'm curious.
Sadly, while the article tries to step it back, it starts with making it sound controversial. Does a disservice to what he is sharing here. There's nothing controversial about what he said here. If you are hating on EMMIs and thinking you are agreeing with him, you probably aren't.
On Dread itself, I had a reaction of disappointment in my first play through, but then getting 100% and playing through again, I really turned around and love it. More than the EMMIs I found some of the repeating bosses a problem with the game progression, though.
My other disappointment is that we don't have a Switch version of 3DS Metroid Samus Returns. I want both.
@EriXz Super Metroid does really stand at an important moment in gaming history, on consoles especially. You can see many trends that have built off of it: intentional focus on tone and mood, storytelling while remaining interactive, a mix of explicit and implicit instruction, quality of life considerations (auto mapping — you can't get stuck), balancing exploration with highly designed progression. All stuff that was found emerging in many games separately, but came together and became proof that future games really needed to pay attention to all these things at once.
Now, games are expected to be better partly because of Super Metroid's influence.
I wouldn't expect everyone to keep it enshrined as the GOAT. I've certainly had as much and probably more fun with later games... maybe not too many, though.
Thought the new characters looked great and was hoping for updated customization. Then the Miis show up when they demoed it, and the weaknesses of the Mii designs make them seem dated and odd looking now in comparison.
I’m in, though. It has been a long time and my family is ready
@ModdedInkling @Nalverus @Tasuki @AgentGuapo Worth a reminder that the branch of NoA they worked at is shutting down (San Francisco). It's likely that neither of them was willing to uproot their lives in order to keep working at Nintendo.
@chipia I don't hate Zelda 2, but it sure does seem to hate its players. It's not just that it is hard, it is full of random cheap shots, it has some obtuse puzzles, and some frustrating combat mechanics. My least favorite bit is the difficult to find "extra lives" that are actually consumable, never to be used again.
That said, I really like a lot of the ideas and the side view take on the Zelda formula had many fun implications. They really paid off better applied in Metroid which is also heavily flawed, but a classic in my book.
My first experience with an N64 was renting an import before it released in the US. Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64.
The push-the-stick-towards-where-you-wanted-Mario-to-move relative to you instead of relative to Mario's direction, combined with a game that was full of creativity and exploration really set the direction for all 3rd person 3D games after it. The fact that Mario just seemed to enjoy performing all his acrobatics thanks to his voice really hit this chord of pure fun. (only the tricky camera manipulation got in the way)
I do remember it slowly dawning on me how the N64 had significant tech issues. It started by noticing that the trees were 2D cutouts, as were the "Sphere"-based enemies. The low-res textures too. It just did not age well as things tried to look more realistic.
Amazing burst of great games though that stayed the best in their franchises for a long time in the minds of many Nintendo fans.
Ocarina, Star Fox 64, Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, and Diddy Kong Racing (and for some, the vastly inferior but much more popular Mario Kart 64), make it an important milestone in gaming history and the source of some of my best video game memories.
Animation quality is top-notch. Maybe not "anime" enough? I guess I'm not Sonic-fan enough to understand why that isn't a pretty awesome piece of intro animation. Love the fluidity of movement and the motion of it, myself. Maybe I just enjoy how it is not the typical Sonic animations that are so-so to stale most of the time.
Dropping high-quality work because it's "not the same" is one reason why franchises like Sonic grow stale and struggle, I guess.
@rockodoodle Apple Arcade really does free up those games that are part of the subscription from some of the worse trends in the mobile space (maximizing microtransactions, timers, gambling at the expense of gameplay).
A subscription from Nintendo for indie games, I'm not as clear on how that might help — except that the competition's Game Pass is poised to be very successful.
But Nintendo has too much to lose from the big titles if it made a similar bundling of indie and their biggest games in the same subscription, I think.
@YANDMAN It does have a relatively simple action set, but delivers well on the spy hunter style and fun. Doesn't really evoke the worst of mobile games for me at least.
Hoping the Western release is a little cheaper, myself! Very curious about the mini trackball, spinner(paddle) controller and if this can be modded to play some other games (I've bought many many times already, like Tempest)
@GrailUK That's not silly at all. Nostalgia is real.
I've played emulated versions of NES games on PC with various controllers, but then going back to my original NES with controllers, or even using the controllers that came with the classic mini really elevated the experience and kicked in the sense memory.
I played this on Apple Arcade and it was pretty fun, and very arcade simplified. It had clearly been built for typical mobile game transactions/timers and felt out of place that it made you wait for daily unlocks, like they weren't quite sure what to do when it was part of a subscription.
All that said, I'm guessing this version, being targeted at the consoles is better about it? I wonder if they ever updated it on Apple Arcade runs to check... oh, it's been improved there already and it's more fun than I remember.
It is very arcade-like but really delivers on the tone set in those trailers even during gameplay. Some might not like the camera viewpoint that I think is meant to make it more cinematic. It's fun and I'm going to go back and play some more.
Yeah, plenty of things I had not connected before. Entertaining, too.
Sometimes it is hard to draw the line between influence and inspiration. In the early days of video games, there was plenty of directly taking from movies and shows because it felt like just a completely different realm to work in (Revenge of Shinobi had Spider-man and Godzilla for a silly example). But video games and movies and shows are really in the same space now.
Anyway, I feel like playing through those games... had fun going through influences of Herzog Zwei and RTS games in a similar way.
@NoTinderLife There's a gazillion in BotW. Metroid Dread seems to have been made with sequence breaking and speed runners completely in mind while developing. I think they are trying to control it a bit. Invincibility glitches are really, really boring, so I kind of get it. Not sure I agree with it anyway, but I like that Nintendo and Mercury Steam went into development completely aware of the speed running scene and designed a game into it. That part is great.
@Jaguar_Wong What do you see as bad about the boss fights? I have a couple quibbles — a little repetitive near the end, and the final boss had a stage or two that was maybe too long — but overall, they were a lot of fun. What boss fights are you comparing them to?
Major WW vibes, yes. Wind Waker stood out from other games, including other Zelda games, not just for cel-shading but for the divisive open sea. This game really captures the feel of that part of WW, including the quirky characters and the pace. What makes it more intriguing is that focusing on that one aspect of the game gives an opportunity to improve on that part. The sea combat looks good. Bosses look reeeeeal early so far, though.
Anyway, hope it turns out great. Wind Waker vibes earned as far as I see it.
@Freek My first time through Dread I was frustrated when I noticed how strongly it was gating access to the map to push you forward.
If the exploration and immersion in the environment is your favorite part of Metroid (it might be my favorite part) I think that is going to be a natural response to this game.
I then went to 100% it and that was pretty fun! Next I played it through on hard and couldn't help pushing through some places to explore and there are come nice tricky ways to get around the gating and force your way. Sequence breaking stuff. It had more ability to explore than I initially thought and, really, I love the game now.
Still, I'm hoping this means the Prime games will be the one to favor exploration and immersion more. That is what Super Metroid accomplished (and even Metroid) compared to their contemporaries of the day.
Article is great and I agree, but still a bit limited in explaining why "lazy devs" is so off base.
It's encouraging to see people try to suss it out in the comments. Cheers to everyone trying to dig deeper.
Always discouraging to see some people fight to keep issues shallow and binary. Unsolicited tip: learn about dunning-kruger effect and confirmation bias.
I think one killer game is all it would take to turn many opinions around. Say, Goldeneye.
That said, I didn't think twice about the original NSO subscription, and I haven't bitten on this yet. I can emulate but I bought the classic systems (NES, SNES, Genesis and even an Atari one). I liked the hardware nostalgia to go along with the games. No N64 yet, and here it is, easy to play, but ... nope. Not hitting me right.
My other problem is that Goldeneye and Diddy Kong Racing are my two N64 essentials (beyond Ocarina) and they are not there.
@Damo @Bunkerneath Gotta chime in on the Dune 2 love. Since I'd never read the book and the older movie was so weird, it was the video game I kept referencing in my mind while watching the new movie.
It was the first recognizable mouse-driven Real-time strategy game (RTS), really. Herzog Zwei prepared me for it (and Rescue Raiders on the Apple ][ before that).
I remember Warcraft being such a close copy of Dune 2 gameplay, but it went on from there as a major genre for awhile.
@clianvXAi Depending on your age, being a gamer might have been much more rare. It was a pastime for nerd teenagers, for a long time in the US. It's fun for people that have gone through that experience where video games were nerd culture to see people who knew how great they could be talk about it on a world stage.
All that said, you are right that in many places it is much, much more normalized now.
@JoeMoney333 With Silksong, the reveal just looked so polished and ready. And it was hard to gauge how far along it might be. Hollow Knight had a similar issue in its promotion.
Here's the thing: Hollow Knight ended up SO expansive and more than I thought it would be. I'm guessing once they got Silksong's core gameplay working they realized that they needed to deliver something as involving, which means tons of content. (My hope is that they have learned from some of the flaws in Hollow Knight as well)
Either way, I'm glad to know it is looking so good while in development, the wait it hard, but the work Team Cherry is doing is much harder than the energy I expend "waiting". lol.
@Crono1973 No offense, but on a video game news site, I think it's natural to have small stories about people important to video games, a person who singlehandedly made a beloved game with incredible staying power. A story about a game that looks to appeal directly to those fans and an update that involves context for how and when it would be released.
Loved this game, but right from the start I was surprised by how much less impressive the music was compared to the SNES version. SNES dedicated sound chip made it easier to make the music sound good I guess. (It was a SONY chip, too, which makes me wonder if the CD thing falling out also contributed to pulling a similar chip from the N64? Just idle speculation)
@ChromaticDracula Haha. It reminds me of my experience when it was first released. When I came up for air after finishing it, I was surprised to see the parts people were reacting to. I found it flawed, but really enjoyed it overall, I just had completely different flaws.
I think this is one that every Metroid fan should play because it sure seems to hit people differently.
It's flawed, but so is Dread in different ways. Still, Other M was very memorable and I found the wackidoo finale more distracting than the other story elements which some people had a gut reaction to.
It was a gutsy set of gameplay experimentations, too. Most of it could have worked great in a Metroid game but, like Dread, they sort of pushed the core exploration gameplay elements to the side to accomplish other goals.
I enjoy the novelty and clock features of the Super Mario Bros. version, but I especially like it as a desk toy. Thing is, the original NES Zelda is my favorite, so it just felt wrong not to have it. Plus, the features are better in this one.
It's not for long play sessions, and I would have liked to try out the original Zelda game & watch, but it is just at the highest price I'd consider paying for what I'll get out of it.
Preordered early on and I'm just waiting. I'm sure Nintendo would rather have them sell out fast, but I'm glad those who want one will get a chance.
I have the big Zelda BOTW special edition box in my office. It gets comments, and I didn’t realize this SE would get a big box. If I could get it for regular price I might just do it, but no.
Oh, I liked that ad. That hit just right. It's funny though, I avert my eyes when they show in-game footage. I don't need to see anything, already bought it.
This is a fun idea and I’m looking forward to results. If it was available outside Japan I’d be making further considerations. I couldn’t quite make out what the submission is supposed to be. A pitch, a vertical slice demo? Probably the demo. Can’t be the whole game because that’s what the finding would be for
Love seeing the Diddy Kong Racing love here. And even a Jet Force Gemini callout! I'm hoping for these, too.
I wonder if I have some sort of post-traumatic stress that makes me fixate on Diddy Kong Racing: remember the Gamecube teasers that showed a (maybe) successor to DKR for the Gamecube coming from Rare? And then they went to Microsoft before it happened. sigh
Anyway, I have all the classic mini console things, but there is not one for N64, so... I might even buy that controller for the convenience.
I really miss that button layout. It was the best 4 button face configuration ever, in my opinion. It was clearly made to differentiate by feel, not only to identification but also for relationship: Primary, secondary, and the two left and right extras.
Probably the best part was no confusion over which was confirm/cancel which can be annoying going from console to console as your muscle memory likes to fight you if you are not focused on the context — this layout gave you that context by feel alone.
Anyway, I miss it. I kinda thought it would be in the future of all Nintendo consoles, but they went waaaay out there for the next console and I guess "forgot" how useful this was. (Now with Switch they went with the buttons-as-dpad-if-you-need-it-to-be configuration). Makes sense how it went afterwards, still miss it.
Struck by this comment thread and how it encapsulates the typical problems with social networks. Hot takes diminish the endeavor of this individual to some sort of easy or foolish activity of folly, even though there is plenty in the article to suggest otherwise.
Likely the person is someone who found a pleasant and rewarding past-time that grew out of a fondness for video games. I find that relatable. On the plus side of social networks, unlike most here, this person's Twitter followers enjoyed taking on a role of support and assistance to feel some shared community.
@Clyde_Radcliffe For many NES gamers it was the first they had ever heard of a cheat code. Not only that, it was passed by word-of-mouth and actually worked unlike many of the rumors passed around (my uncle works at Nintendo...). Plus, it was very useful for a game many found very difficult, Contra. (Back then, no internet, and the number of gamers was a small nerdom, so super-secret stuff like this was gold)
What I can't remember is how I first found out about it. I played Gradius early on and often and did not know about it for a long time. Can't remember if it was in Nintendo Power or what.
@KevynOnVideo It is funny how much better advertising understood what was needed to sell Atari 2600 games. Of course, the graphics were so much more abstract that the art was an important selling point AND important to guide the imagination while playing the game. So much of that art was beautiful.
@sleepinglion It was a deterrent to me. I sort of laughed at it in the store and looked past it.
Later I saw a screenshot in the back of a friend's copy of The Official Nintendo Player's Guide with flames and lava, an appealing character and what looked like great graphics to me. What I can't remember is if I played it before Mega Man 2 or not — I did at some point rent it and play through it. I do remember that when the hype started for Mega Man 2 because of early screens in Nintendo Power, I did know of the game when my gamer-friends hadn't heard of Mega Man...
@BulkSlash Love the Celeste soundtrack and now I wonder about the influence from Joe Hisaishi on Lena. If you have not seen Joe Hisaishi's live performance concert of the Ghibli movies it is worth seeking out, btw.
When I was younger I thought the Nausicaa soundtrack was so odd and at times "soapy" sounding, though the finale with the young choir was immediately hauntingly beautiful. Embarrassingly I even did some VHS editing to layer in different background music to see if I could make it better — no. haha.
Such a cool project. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Nintendo could champion how dedicated and passionate their fans are by controlling the narrative around games like these in their own "safe haven" site where it is clear that the game is not official, but it is celebrated and can help keep the hype going for the games they will sell. It would take some effort, but cost probably less than lawyers and be good PR rather than a continual string of bad PR.
@Anti-Matter Nothing wrong with liking those games better. I found them quite boring in comparison to Minecraft and I did give them a try. Popularity with Minecraft comes from how flexible it is and how it can provide so many types of gaming experiences fluidly (rather than directed and sequential).
There is something to be said for experiencing popular games and experiences along with the niche games, though, too. Social benefits are a real thing.
Arcade Donkey Kong, but I played (non-super) Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Jr. more in the arcade before I played Super Mario Bros. in an arcade. I saw that the NES version looked identical and saved up painting a fence to buy the NES and SMB. Was such a great game in comparison to others because of all the secrets and organic feeling controls and I’d always wished the Atari 2600 and computer ports of arcade games were better — this felt exact!
Comments 6,335
Re: Happy MAR10 Day From Nintendo Life!
@RadioHedgeFund
I'm American and I'm with you. I do prefer what @-wc- proposes, though (and we can keep MAR10 day that way, too). Also non-liquid ingredients should be in weight measurements, lumber dimensions shouldn't be labeled so silly or tenths of a cent used in advertising gas prices, etc. Society is slow to change, however, and needs a reason to care.
Re: Exclusive: Twin-Stick Roguelite Platformer 'Revita' Blasts Onto Switch This April
Looks solid.
Has anyone here played a twin-stick platformer before? I feel like prototyping this right now... with right-analog for aiming, I think I'd prefer d-pad for walking... maybe even dpad-up for jumping as opposed to using shoulder buttons and triggers... but that's why I'd want to prototype it. With many other abilities added, I'm wondering about how it's all managed. Metroid Dread aiming controls seem preferable in my minds-eye, but now I'm curious.
Re: AM2R Creator Isn't A Fan Of Metroid Dread's E.M.M.I. Encounters
Sadly, while the article tries to step it back, it starts with making it sound controversial. Does a disservice to what he is sharing here. There's nothing controversial about what he said here. If you are hating on EMMIs and thinking you are agreeing with him, you probably aren't.
On Dread itself, I had a reaction of disappointment in my first play through, but then getting 100% and playing through again, I really turned around and love it. More than the EMMIs I found some of the repeating bosses a problem with the game progression, though.
My other disappointment is that we don't have a Switch version of 3DS Metroid Samus Returns. I want both.
Re: Random: Portal 2's Intro Was Apparently Inspired By Super Metroid's Opening
@EriXz Super Metroid does really stand at an important moment in gaming history, on consoles especially. You can see many trends that have built off of it: intentional focus on tone and mood, storytelling while remaining interactive, a mix of explicit and implicit instruction, quality of life considerations (auto mapping — you can't get stuck), balancing exploration with highly designed progression. All stuff that was found emerging in many games separately, but came together and became proof that future games really needed to pay attention to all these things at once.
Now, games are expected to be better partly because of Super Metroid's influence.
I wouldn't expect everyone to keep it enshrined as the GOAT. I've certainly had as much and probably more fun with later games... maybe not too many, though.
Re: Nintendo Switch Sports Online Play Test Times And Dates - How To Register For The Switch Sports Online Beta
@McGruber buy JoyCons
Re: Wii Sports Is Reborn As 'Nintendo Switch Sports'
Thought the new characters looked great and was hoping for updated customization. Then the Miis show up when they demoed it, and the weaknesses of the Mii designs make them seem dated and odd looking now in comparison.
I’m in, though. It has been a long time and my family is ready
Re: Nintendo Minute's Kit And Krysta Say Goodbye In Their "Final Episode"
@ModdedInkling @Nalverus @Tasuki @AgentGuapo Worth a reminder that the branch of NoA they worked at is shutting down (San Francisco). It's likely that neither of them was willing to uproot their lives in order to keep working at Nintendo.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Nintendo-to-close-Bay-Area-office-16578949.php
Re: Zelda-Inspired Adventure 'Airoheart' Could Be A Treat For Fans Of A Link To The Past
@Browny Maybe it's still worthwhile, but I agree, this seems to play exactly the same with the same identical elements.
Re: Hands On: 'Infernax' Blends The Best Of Zelda II And Castlevania II While Skipping The Flaws
@chipia I don't hate Zelda 2, but it sure does seem to hate its players. It's not just that it is hard, it is full of random cheap shots, it has some obtuse puzzles, and some frustrating combat mechanics. My least favorite bit is the difficult to find "extra lives" that are actually consumable, never to be used again.
That said, I really like a lot of the ideas and the side view take on the Zelda formula had many fun implications. They really paid off better applied in Metroid which is also heavily flawed, but a classic in my book.
Re: Sakurai Believes He Was Able To "Fully Complete" Iwata's Final Mission
If he does develop another game, I'd like to see something completely original or a Kid Icarus Uprising sequel on the next Nintendo console.
Re: Retro: Back In 1996, Nintendo 64 Was The Must-Have Christmas Gift - Alongside 'Tickle Me Elmo'
My first experience with an N64 was renting an import before it released in the US. Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64.
The push-the-stick-towards-where-you-wanted-Mario-to-move relative to you instead of relative to Mario's direction, combined with a game that was full of creativity and exploration really set the direction for all 3rd person 3D games after it. The fact that Mario just seemed to enjoy performing all his acrobatics thanks to his voice really hit this chord of pure fun. (only the tricky camera manipulation got in the way)
I do remember it slowly dawning on me how the N64 had significant tech issues. It started by noticing that the trees were 2D cutouts, as were the "Sphere"-based enemies. The low-res textures too. It just did not age well as things tried to look more realistic.
Amazing burst of great games though that stayed the best in their franchises for a long time in the minds of many Nintendo fans.
Ocarina, Star Fox 64, Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, and Diddy Kong Racing (and for some, the vastly inferior but much more popular Mario Kart 64), make it an important milestone in gaming history and the source of some of my best video game memories.
Re: Check Out This Never-Before-Seen Intro To BioWare's Now-Decanonized Sonic Brotherhood
Animation quality is top-notch. Maybe not "anime" enough? I guess I'm not Sonic-fan enough to understand why that isn't a pretty awesome piece of intro animation. Love the fluidity of movement and the motion of it, myself. Maybe I just enjoy how it is not the typical Sonic animations that are so-so to stale most of the time.
Dropping high-quality work because it's "not the same" is one reason why franchises like Sonic grow stale and struggle, I guess.
Re: Take Control Of A Transforming Supercar In Agent Intercept, Coming To Switch Next Year
@rockodoodle Apple Arcade really does free up those games that are part of the subscription from some of the worse trends in the mobile space (maximizing microtransactions, timers, gambling at the expense of gameplay).
A subscription from Nintendo for indie games, I'm not as clear on how that might help — except that the competition's Game Pass is poised to be very successful.
But Nintendo has too much to lose from the big titles if it made a similar bundling of indie and their biggest games in the same subscription, I think.
Interesting to think about, though...
Re: Take Control Of A Transforming Supercar In Agent Intercept, Coming To Switch Next Year
@YANDMAN
It does have a relatively simple action set, but delivers well on the spy hunter style and fun. Doesn't really evoke the worst of mobile games for me at least.
Re: The Taito Egret II Mini Is Getting A Western Release
@RushDawg Don't know what the price will be via this new distribution deal, but the import of the Japanese version through PlayAsia is going for $170. You can see the accessory prices on Nintendo Life's page about it here: https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/where-to-pre-order-the-taito-egret-ii-mini
Hoping the Western release is a little cheaper, myself! Very curious about the mini trackball, spinner(paddle) controller and if this can be modded to play some other games (I've bought many many times already, like Tempest)
Re: The Taito Egret II Mini Is Getting A Western Release
@GrailUK That's not silly at all. Nostalgia is real.
I've played emulated versions of NES games on PC with various controllers, but then going back to my original NES with controllers, or even using the controllers that came with the classic mini really elevated the experience and kicked in the sense memory.
Re: Take Control Of A Transforming Supercar In Agent Intercept, Coming To Switch Next Year
I played this on Apple Arcade and it was pretty fun, and very arcade simplified. It had clearly been built for typical mobile game transactions/timers and felt out of place that it made you wait for daily unlocks, like they weren't quite sure what to do when it was part of a subscription.
All that said, I'm guessing this version, being targeted at the consoles is better about it? I wonder if they ever updated it on Apple Arcade runs to check... oh, it's been improved there already and it's more fun than I remember.
It is very arcade-like but really delivers on the tone set in those trailers even during gameplay. Some might not like the camera viewpoint that I think is meant to make it more cinematic. It's fun and I'm going to go back and play some more.
Re: Video: The Varied And Fascinating Sources Of Inspiration For Metroid
Yeah, plenty of things I had not connected before. Entertaining, too.
Sometimes it is hard to draw the line between influence and inspiration. In the early days of video games, there was plenty of directly taking from movies and shows because it felt like just a completely different realm to work in (Revenge of Shinobi had Spider-man and Godzilla for a silly example). But video games and movies and shows are really in the same space now.
Anyway, I feel like playing through those games... had fun going through influences of Herzog Zwei and RTS games in a similar way.
Re: Metroid Dread Version 1.0.3 Is Now Available, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@NoTinderLife There's a gazillion in BotW. Metroid Dread seems to have been made with sequence breaking and speed runners completely in mind while developing. I think they are trying to control it a bit. Invincibility glitches are really, really boring, so I kind of get it. Not sure I agree with it anyway, but I like that Nintendo and Mercury Steam went into development completely aware of the speed running scene and designed a game into it. That part is great.
Re: Metroid Dread Version 1.0.3 Is Now Available, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@Jaguar_Wong What do you see as bad about the boss fights? I have a couple quibbles — a little repetitive near the end, and the final boss had a stage or two that was maybe too long — but overall, they were a lot of fun. What boss fights are you comparing them to?
Re: Zelda: Wind Waker-Vibes Await In 'Sail Forth', Now Setting Course For Switch In 2022
Major WW vibes, yes. Wind Waker stood out from other games, including other Zelda games, not just for cel-shading but for the divisive open sea. This game really captures the feel of that part of WW, including the quirky characters and the pace. What makes it more intriguing is that focusing on that one aspect of the game gives an opportunity to improve on that part. The sea combat looks good. Bosses look reeeeeal early so far, though.
Anyway, hope it turns out great. Wind Waker vibes earned as far as I see it.
Re: Metroid Dread Had The Strongest Opening Month Of Any Metroid Game Ever In The US
@NWC I had some frustration during the first play through, but came around to love the game, myself.
Just mentioning it because Super Metroid remains my favorite. Though, the first Prime has been a close second, Dread is in that top 3 now, I think.
Re: Metroid Dread Had The Strongest Opening Month Of Any Metroid Game Ever In The US
@Freek My first time through Dread I was frustrated when I noticed how strongly it was gating access to the map to push you forward.
If the exploration and immersion in the environment is your favorite part of Metroid (it might be my favorite part) I think that is going to be a natural response to this game.
I then went to 100% it and that was pretty fun! Next I played it through on hard and couldn't help pushing through some places to explore and there are come nice tricky ways to get around the gating and force your way. Sequence breaking stuff. It had more ability to explore than I initially thought and, really, I love the game now.
Still, I'm hoping this means the Prime games will be the one to favor exploration and immersion more. That is what Super Metroid accomplished (and even Metroid) compared to their contemporaries of the day.
Re: Soapbox: Can We Please Retire The Phrase 'Lazy Devs' Already?
Article is great and I agree, but still a bit limited in explaining why "lazy devs" is so off base.
It's encouraging to see people try to suss it out in the comments. Cheers to everyone trying to dig deeper.
Always discouraging to see some people fight to keep issues shallow and binary. Unsolicited tip: learn about dunning-kruger effect and confirmation bias.
Re: Random: Nintendo's Switch Online 'Expansion Pack' Trailer Is Now Its Most Disliked YouTube Video Ever
I think one killer game is all it would take to turn many opinions around. Say, Goldeneye.
That said, I didn't think twice about the original NSO subscription, and I haven't bitten on this yet. I can emulate but I bought the classic systems (NES, SNES, Genesis and even an Atari one). I liked the hardware nostalgia to go along with the games. No N64 yet, and here it is, easy to play, but ... nope. Not hitting me right.
My other problem is that Goldeneye and Diddy Kong Racing are my two N64 essentials (beyond Ocarina) and they are not there.
Re: Random: Turns Out Dune's Paul Atreides Is One Of Us After All
@Damo @Bunkerneath Gotta chime in on the Dune 2 love. Since I'd never read the book and the older movie was so weird, it was the video game I kept referencing in my mind while watching the new movie.
It was the first recognizable mouse-driven Real-time strategy game (RTS), really. Herzog Zwei prepared me for it (and Rescue Raiders on the Apple ][ before that).
I remember Warcraft being such a close copy of Dune 2 gameplay, but it went on from there as a major genre for awhile.
Re: Random: Turns Out Dune's Paul Atreides Is One Of Us After All
@clianvXAi Depending on your age, being a gamer might have been much more rare. It was a pastime for nerd teenagers, for a long time in the US. It's fun for people that have gone through that experience where video games were nerd culture to see people who knew how great they could be talk about it on a world stage.
All that said, you are right that in many places it is much, much more normalized now.
Re: Stardew Valley's Creator Won't Release His New Game Until He's "Personally Satisfied That It's Very Fun And Compelling"
@JoeMoney333 With Silksong, the reveal just looked so polished and ready. And it was hard to gauge how far along it might be. Hollow Knight had a similar issue in its promotion.
Here's the thing: Hollow Knight ended up SO expansive and more than I thought it would be. I'm guessing once they got Silksong's core gameplay working they realized that they needed to deliver something as involving, which means tons of content. (My hope is that they have learned from some of the flaws in Hollow Knight as well)
Either way, I'm glad to know it is looking so good while in development, the wait it hard, but the work Team Cherry is doing is much harder than the energy I expend "waiting". lol.
Re: Stardew Valley's Creator Won't Release His New Game Until He's "Personally Satisfied That It's Very Fun And Compelling"
@thiz A bit of cynical take. Circumstance are very, very different now. Blood, Sweat and Pixels is a great book, though, for sure.
Re: Stardew Valley's Creator Won't Release His New Game Until He's "Personally Satisfied That It's Very Fun And Compelling"
@Crono1973 No offense, but on a video game news site, I think it's natural to have small stories about people important to video games, a person who singlehandedly made a beloved game with incredible staying power. A story about a game that looks to appeal directly to those fans and an update that involves context for how and when it would be released.
Re: Review: Star Fox 64 - A Cinematic Series High Point
Loved this game, but right from the start I was surprised by how much less impressive the music was compared to the SNES version. SNES dedicated sound chip made it easier to make the music sound good I guess. (It was a SONY chip, too, which makes me wonder if the CD thing falling out also contributed to pulling a similar chip from the N64? Just idle speculation)
Re: Random: Forget Dread, It's All About Metroid: Other M On Twitter Right Now
@ChromaticDracula Haha. It reminds me of my experience when it was first released. When I came up for air after finishing it, I was surprised to see the parts people were reacting to. I found it flawed, but really enjoyed it overall, I just had completely different flaws.
I think this is one that every Metroid fan should play because it sure seems to hit people differently.
Re: Random: Forget Dread, It's All About Metroid: Other M On Twitter Right Now
It's flawed, but so is Dread in different ways. Still, Other M was very memorable and I found the wackidoo finale more distracting than the other story elements which some people had a gut reaction to.
It was a gutsy set of gameplay experimentations, too. Most of it could have worked great in a Metroid game but, like Dread, they sort of pushed the core exploration gameplay elements to the side to accomplish other goals.
Re: A Month After An Iconic Tokyo SEGA Arcade Closed, Another Will Open Across The Street
I'm I reading that right? 3 floors of crane games and arcade games in the basement? Love seeing cultural differences.
Re: Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda Gets A Snazzy New Trailer
I enjoy the novelty and clock features of the Super Mario Bros. version, but I especially like it as a desk toy. Thing is, the original NES Zelda is my favorite, so it just felt wrong not to have it. Plus, the features are better in this one.
It's not for long play sessions, and I would have liked to try out the original Zelda game & watch, but it is just at the highest price I'd consider paying for what I'll get out of it.
Preordered early on and I'm just waiting. I'm sure Nintendo would rather have them sell out fast, but I'm glad those who want one will get a chance.
Re: Gallery: Feast Your Eyes On Metroid Dread's Special Edition
I have the big Zelda BOTW special edition box in my office. It gets comments, and I didn’t realize this SE would get a big box. If I could get it for regular price I might just do it, but no.
Maybe I can get just the box off someone? :/
Re: Video: Metroid Dread's Latest Commercial Puts An EMMI In This Poor Woman's Lounge
Oh, I liked that ad. That hit just right. It's funny though, I avert my eyes when they show in-game footage. I don't need to see anything, already bought it.
Re: Konami Competition Tasks Indie Devs With Reviving Its Classic IP
This is a fun idea and I’m looking forward to results. If it was available outside Japan I’d be making further considerations. I couldn’t quite make out what the submission is supposed to be. A pitch, a vertical slice demo? Probably the demo. Can’t be the whole game because that’s what the finding would be for
Re: Banjo-Kazooie Is 'Coming Home' To A Nintendo Console Via Switch Online
Love seeing the Diddy Kong Racing love here. And even a Jet Force Gemini callout! I'm hoping for these, too.
I wonder if I have some sort of post-traumatic stress that makes me fixate on Diddy Kong Racing: remember the Gamecube teasers that showed a (maybe) successor to DKR for the Gamecube coming from Rare? And then they went to Microsoft before it happened. sigh
Anyway, I have all the classic mini console things, but there is not one for N64, so... I might even buy that controller for the convenience.
Re: This Reimagined GameCube Controller Offers Wireless Play, Pre-Orders Open Now
I really miss that button layout. It was the best 4 button face configuration ever, in my opinion. It was clearly made to differentiate by feel, not only to identification but also for relationship: Primary, secondary, and the two left and right extras.
Probably the best part was no confusion over which was confirm/cancel which can be annoying going from console to console as your muscle memory likes to fight you if you are not focused on the context — this layout gave you that context by feel alone.
Anyway, I miss it. I kinda thought it would be in the future of all Nintendo consoles, but they went waaaay out there for the next console and I guess "forgot" how useful this was. (Now with Switch they went with the buttons-as-dpad-if-you-need-it-to-be configuration). Makes sense how it went afterwards, still miss it.
Re: Random: Nintendo Fan Collects Every Game Boy Game In Just Two Years
Struck by this comment thread and how it encapsulates the typical problems with social networks. Hot takes diminish the endeavor of this individual to some sort of easy or foolish activity of folly, even though there is plenty in the article to suggest otherwise.
Likely the person is someone who found a pleasant and rewarding past-time that grew out of a fondness for video games. I find that relatable. On the plus side of social networks, unlike most here, this person's Twitter followers enjoyed taking on a role of support and assistance to feel some shared community.
Cheers!
Re: It's The Konami Code's 35th Anniversary, And That Means Merch
@Clyde_Radcliffe For many NES gamers it was the first they had ever heard of a cheat code. Not only that, it was passed by word-of-mouth and actually worked unlike many of the rumors passed around (my uncle works at Nintendo...). Plus, it was very useful for a game many found very difficult, Contra. (Back then, no internet, and the number of gamers was a small nerdom, so super-secret stuff like this was gold)
What I can't remember is how I first found out about it. I played Gradius early on and often and did not know about it for a long time. Can't remember if it was in Nintendo Power or what.
Re: Former Capcom Designer Wishes He Could Have Stopped The North American Mega Man Cover
@KevynOnVideo It is funny how much better advertising understood what was needed to sell Atari 2600 games. Of course, the graphics were so much more abstract that the art was an important selling point AND important to guide the imagination while playing the game. So much of that art was beautiful.
Re: Former Capcom Designer Wishes He Could Have Stopped The North American Mega Man Cover
@sleepinglion It was a deterrent to me. I sort of laughed at it in the store and looked past it.
Later I saw a screenshot in the back of a friend's copy of The Official Nintendo Player's Guide with flames and lava, an appealing character and what looked like great graphics to me. What I can't remember is if I played it before Mega Man 2 or not — I did at some point rent it and play through it. I do remember that when the hype started for Mega Man 2 because of early screens in Nintendo Power, I did know of the game when my gamer-friends hadn't heard of Mega Man...
Anyway, you can see the guide and the page I saw, at archive.org
https://archive.org/details/the-official-nintendo-players-guide/page/144/mode/2up
Re: Talking Point: Which Nintendo Console Has The Best Start-Up Sound?
Loved the Gamecube (and the variations), Switch is the best since, and then Gameboy for me.
Re: Quick Beats: Celeste Composer Lena Raine On Her Love For Ghibli, Hurdy-Gurdies, And Her Cat
@BulkSlash Love the Celeste soundtrack and now I wonder about the influence from Joe Hisaishi on Lena. If you have not seen Joe Hisaishi's live performance concert of the Ghibli movies it is worth seeking out, btw.
When I was younger I thought the Nausicaa soundtrack was so odd and at times "soapy" sounding, though the finale with the young choir was immediately hauntingly beautiful. Embarrassingly I even did some VHS editing to layer in different background music to see if I could make it better — no. haha.
Re: The Fan-Made 2D Metroid Prime Game Has Been Forced To Shut Down
Such a cool project. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Nintendo could champion how dedicated and passionate their fans are by controlling the narrative around games like these in their own "safe haven" site where it is clear that the game is not official, but it is celebrated and can help keep the hype going for the games they will sell. It would take some effort, but cost probably less than lawyers and be good PR rather than a continual string of bad PR.
Re: Switch Takes Japan's Entire Top 30 Software Chart, The First Console To Do So Since 1988
@Anti-Matter Nothing wrong with liking those games better. I found them quite boring in comparison to Minecraft and I did give them a try. Popularity with Minecraft comes from how flexible it is and how it can provide so many types of gaming experiences fluidly (rather than directed and sequential).
There is something to be said for experiencing popular games and experiences along with the niche games, though, too. Social benefits are a real thing.
Anyway, cheers.
Re: Video: 'The Frog For Whom The Bell Tolls', Link’s Awakening’s Hidden Predecessor
This is great. I had no idea about this one and now I want to play it. Could have been another major IP with more games.
Re: Community: What Was Your First Ever Nintendo Game?
Arcade Donkey Kong, but I played (non-super) Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Jr. more in the arcade before I played Super Mario Bros. in an arcade. I saw that the NES version looked identical and saved up painting a fence to buy the NES and SMB. Was such a great game in comparison to others because of all the secrets and organic feeling controls and I’d always wished the Atari 2600 and computer ports of arcade games were better — this felt exact!