Comments 1,196

Re: Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Brings 12 Sports To Switch 2 Later This Year

cyrus_zuo

As long as Eighting isn't involved I'm stoked!

Switch Sports was pretty amazing, the soccer w/leg strap remains one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

...but the Basketball was so awful, so, so, awful.
I wasn't surprised when it was revealed, that the Basketball game in Switch Sports, and only that game, came from a studio called Eighting. (everything else is from Nintendo EAD)

I don't want Eighting anywhere near this - and it will determine whether I buy or pass, even if it is a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time.

Re: Opinion: Mario Kart World Deserves Its Flowers, So Let's Stop Comparing It To MK8 Deluxe

cyrus_zuo

As a long time Mario kart fan whose play numbers show that for the Wii, 3DS and WiiU that my most played game (by far) was Mario Kart, I initially was very negative about MKW missing the mark.

Then my son showed me all the skill possible to be learned in MKW and I changed my tune.

World has by far the highest skill ceiling of any Mario Kart game alongside the highest track variety due to each race having many ways you can get to it.

It's crazy high variety, mixed with crazy high skill.

I'll openly admit that I was a hater for the first 20+ hours I played. I'd shelved the game and moved on.

Since being reintroduced, it's been a challenging, but lovely bit of fun. I'm always down for another race. The longevity of the title with the approach Nintendo took is much, much higher than previous games in the series.

Absolutely love the game and am always encouraging gamers to give it another look, because there is a lot to like, IMO, more than in any previous MK title and that is saying a lot!

Re: Poll: Pictonico Is Out Now, What Are Your First Impressions?

cyrus_zuo

Immediately bought both packs and played for a half hour with my kids laughing as we did...

...and then went and did something else.

I feel like it is a fun WarioWare style game, but probably with less legs than a typical WW game.
Clearly hoping to create memes that you'll want to share with family/friends. That seems like a smart idea.

Re: Review: Yoshi And The Mysterious Book (Switch 2) - Charming Enough, But Ultimately Lacklustre

cyrus_zuo

@Nabbit01 - my point isn't that others say it is hard, it is that previous Yoshi games, like Woolly World were called out as 'easy,' but imo - they ramp up in later levels to be painfully difficult/frustrating.
So - my experience is that reviewers often state Yoshi (and Kirby games fwiw) are easy, and I find that they start that way, but end so difficult that I often quit. Mario games do not share this trait (and I typically clear every level and special level in Mario games).

The concern is misalignment between me and reviewers will lead me to finding, once again, that late content in a Yoshi game is more frustrating than fun.

Re: Round Up: The Reviews For Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight Are In

cyrus_zuo

I've become afraid of the LEGO series since LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
I tried, with multiple friends, to get into that game, which should be right up my alley, and it was just so boring and repetitive I gave up.
I loved old-school LEGO games (SW: Complete Saga, Pirates, Batman 1, Jurassic Park) and even got into some of the early 'open world' like LoTR & Harry Potter, but somewhere along the way the games just started feeling like random wandering around super same-y locations (Naboo has the same box that you can break on every corner of the city).
It's, imo, everything you can do wrong w/open-world (boring, pointless, empty) turned everything 11.

I want to think this will be great - but LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga had great reviews, and has fans, I just don't understand or relate to them.
So - if this is more like that - then it's a hard pass even if they magically have a S2 version that isn't a garbage port.

Re: Review: Yoshi And The Mysterious Book (Switch 2) - Charming Enough, But Ultimately Lacklustre

cyrus_zuo

I am worried because Wooly World started out easy, but by the end was so brutally difficult I rage quit multiple times before finally totally quitting.

I worry reviewers play one quarter to half a game, think they've seen it all and move on.

I get that reviews are pressed for time, but the misalignment on difficulty suggests they didn't play all of it.

So, my worry here is actually that the game gets too hard later and the reviewer didn't know and I'll end up rage quitting another Yoshi game. (Fwiw, I've cleared every level, bonus level and DLC challenge of Mario Wonder, and felt the main game was too easy, though the DLC was not).

Re: Video: The Great Physical Vs. Digital Switch 2 Debate

cyrus_zuo

Some digital games must be digital on Switch 2 to run properly.

Seems like that should be the leading point.

Outside of that - I struggle b/c I buy too many games.
I cannot have all my digital games on my SD Card (I bought the biggest one, I don't want two and swapping!)

So -

  • I buy physical - when I know the game is short (StarFox, DK, etc.)
  • I buy digital - when I know I'll play the game a ton or I know it needs to be downloaded anyway (MKW, SW: Outlaws, Hogwarts, etc.)

Re: Civilization VII's Huge Free 'Test Of Time' Update Turns Back The Clock Later This Month

cyrus_zuo

Civ VI was my most played Switch game - and I bought every single piece of DLC I could and played through every scenario (Outback Tycoon was my personal favorite and I replayed it to death)

...and it is b/c of this that I haven't bought Civ VII - I just don't know how I'll have the time to play it...

...but this update is the one I said I wanted to wait for before getting it, so, I'll probably see a sale and not be able to resist.

...must resist!

Re: Nintendo's Apparently Cutting US Switch 2 Output After Lower Than Expected Holiday Sales

cyrus_zuo

Donkey Kong didn't do it.
Metroid didn't do it.

That's the reality here.

We needed Mario, we got DK - it was the same team that made Odyssey - this seems like a big problem.

We needed Zelda, we got Metroid - it was not the same team, but the reality is that Zelda is years away.

Nintendo has a Switch 2 problem - it's simple - there isn't MUST HAVE software. Pokopia is the first glimmer of a fix, but there isn't anything on the horizon, atm, that says YOU NEEDS A S2 SO YOU CAN PLAY THIS!

Until they fix the software gap, it will remain undersold..

That said - I love mine - got it day 1, play it daily, but I'm playing SW: Outlaws and Hogwart's Legacy, and other games that are new to me, but not the market.
The only new, Nintendo made, S2 game that has gotten more than 20 hours of play from me is Mario Kart World - which is divisive (mostly split along the lines of those who do and don't get the parkour gameplay). I'm sitting close to 40 hours on MKW, and not looking back since I figured out how to play the thing, but I recognize many players never will.

Nintendo needs its big hitters to drive sales - IDK when we'll get them.

Re: Community: Which Switch 1 Games Benefit Most From Switch 2's New Boost Mode?

cyrus_zuo

Passive updates that were game changer include:

Roller coaster tycoon classic! It was a mess when zoomed out before, but is now smooth like butter.

Civilization VI was a 5 minute load to play time, now less then 90 seconds and late game turns are dramatically faster.

RiMe - had terrible frame rate, hardly hitting 30 most of the time, but is finally playable.

Re: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Switch 2 Edition Gets A New Overview Trailer

cyrus_zuo

@SuperBro64 I did mean 1-1, but I should have had a caveat that I played Wonder as a 4 player game. As a single player I'm sure it is a different experience.
That said the WiiU & Wii 2D Mario games were also 4-player, but they didn't allow you to essentially tank all the levels the way that Wonder does as a 4-player game.

...those 2-3 levels I mentioned, btw, are the bonus levels at the end, and one of them is the hardest level ever in a Mario game, I lost over 100 lives to beat it - no really, over 100.

Re: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Switch 2 Edition Gets A New Overview Trailer

cyrus_zuo

Honestly, this looks like a lot of fun.
Wonder is a good, but not great game, unfortunately held back by being much, much, much too easy. There are probably only 2-3 levels in the entire game as difficult as 1-1 in the original SMB game.
So - embracing the party style approach with min-games seems like a great idea - I look forward to trying it out, and also appreciate Rosalina being added and a new power-up along with trials and bosses.

It's a shotgun approach to content that probably won't go far enough anywhere, but at the same time, provides a lot of variety, so, some pieces of it are bound to be great.

I'm excited to pick it up.

Re: Mario Kart World Could Be Getting A Battle Mode Update

cyrus_zuo

Love, love, love this game!

Easily the best Mario kart ever, and fwiw MK has been my favorite and most played game on every console since the DS...

...but it didn't start that way for me.

I didn't take to the game at first, it was months after it had released that someone showed me how to actually play the game, how many incredible shortcuts there were, and how it has such a high skill ceiling.

It was in December that it finally clicked for me, and since then it's been a crazy lovefest! Having so much skill that can be applied to the tracks in the game makes it so much better than previous entries (which I also loved).

Maybe we can get cops and Roberts added as a mode? That was my favorite battle mode from 8.

Re: Switch 2 Storms Towards Its Forecast Target With 17.37 Million Units Sold

cyrus_zuo

@JHDK I'm the one person on the planet whose favorite Metroid is Other M.
It's the only Metroid game I got to 100% and I've passed it 3 times.
Don't get me wrong, I think the first 2 hours of the game are just not very good...

...but after that, I the switching between 2D and 3D remains crazy unique. It is a game like no other, with great vibes, set pieces and abilities.

I enjoy Metroid games - and Other M provides something no other game has done before or since (the closest might be Super Paper Mario - but it's not actually similar at all if you've played them both).

Due to the Switch 2 backlog (I've been playing mostly SW Outlaws & HL), I haven't picked up MP4 yet, but if it were anything like Other M, I would immediately do so.

Re: Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Fails To Meets Sega's Expectations

cyrus_zuo

I'll probably try it out at some point, but I simply don't have time to play 2 kart racing games.

My opinion of MKW has changed dramatically since its release, where I found it lackluster. Too much straight away, where my drifting skills couldn't be used...

...but...

I didn't realize in my first months of playing that MKW had so much skill-based play. The number of potential short-cuts, and the extreme skill needed to pull off the best short-cuts make MWK unquestionably peak Mario Kart in terms of skill needed (though that same skill requirement makes it no longer a party game...so, that does potentially cut off a lot of the former audience...)

With such a high skill ceiling in MKW, I can't imagine playing another kart racer for a very, very long time. There is simply too much progression available to access by continued personal improvement in MKW to want to start another game w/a much lower skill ceiling.

Re: Switch 2 Sales Reportedly Struggled Over The Christmas Period

cyrus_zuo

Donkey Kong is no Mario (the lineup isn't as strong as BotW & Odyssey).
The price is very high in a challenging financial world.

That said - my opinion of Mario Kart World has done a 180. That game is peak. The barrier to entry is a LOT higher though to be good at it. The incredible short-cuts, that take serious skill to pull off, make it by FAR the highest skill-based mario kart ever.

Re: Donkey Kong Bananza Has Been Updated To Version 3.0.0, Here Are The Full Patch Notes

cyrus_zuo

I love Mario games and have tried to get into this game as a pseudo Mario game, but it's maybe a 7 where Odyssey was a 10.

The digging mechanic is ok, but lacks depth, and the game just loves to make me motion sick with long corridors of low visibility. Hopefully this new camera control will help, but between Start Wars Outlaws and Mario Kart World I'm enjoying my game time elsewhere, and it'll be awhile before I fire DK up again.

Re: 'Ultimate Sheep Raccoon' Brings Multiplayer Mayhem To Switch This Winter

cyrus_zuo

I love LOVE Ultimate Chicken Horse and was super excited to play this new game and I gave it a go at GDC...

...and...

IDK - it didn't immediately capture me. My initial thoughts were that the approach didn't work with bikes at all b/c you were rarely together and it was far too easy to make a mistake, leading to less play and more death, which wasn't super engaging.

Re: Opinion: Celebrating 20 Years Of Baseball In The Mushroom Kingdom

cyrus_zuo

THIS would get me to subscribe to NSO online.

I made the fatal mistake of selling my copy when Mario Baseball on the Wii came out, but that game was a FAR cry from the GCN game - which was really wonderful.

Sadly, Mario Baseball as a series is no more .
I wish Nintendo had bought Metalhead (dev of Super Mega Baseball) and had them make a Mario baseball instead of letting EA acquire them.

I do still play the baseball in Mario Sports Superstars on the 3DS - hard to believe that game is 8 years old!

Tennis, Golf & Soccer have survived, but I miss Mario Baseball.

Re: Review: Misc. A Tiny Tale (Switch) - A Charming Chibi-Robo Tribute

cyrus_zuo

I have the original Chibi on GCN and think it is brilliant, and I want to like this, but the reality is that I get motion sick w/3D games very, very easily, and I just can't imagine such a small team can get this running smooth enough on my S2 for me to be able to play it. Maybe a future demo will convince me otherwise?

Re: EA Worker Pay Continues To Dwindle As CEO Picks Up $5 Million Bonus, Thus Creating Amusingly Tall Financial Graph

cyrus_zuo

I get that the CEO's salary is way too high and is ridiculous - no disagreement there at all.

I don't get how a boycott would fix anything. Wouldn't that just lead to thousands of employees of EA being laid off? Would it affect the CEO at all? Why do we want to harm the people making the games b/c the CEO is earning way too much? Why take it out on them? How would EA going under affect anything? How has Ubisoft falling apart helped the problem?

Honestly - I've got lots of questions b/c the actions suggested here seem to be all about harming the employees, but IDK how they would affect the CEO or the industry (or business in general). It seems like we need a different approach to really change things?

Re: Best Rune Factory Games Of All Time

cyrus_zuo

Frontier was such a wonderful game. It got me through rehab of a tough injury.

4 may be the better game, but I preferred the characters of Frontier. It was an amazing moment when the series came to Wii with such an amazing game.

Re: Classic Atari 2600 Title 'Adventure' Is Being Revived As A Metroidvania

cyrus_zuo

UH how does this look like Adventure - like at all?

I loved Adventure - it was something I played every day when I came home from school - as the NES was coming out, I was still playing Adventure.

Why play so much?
b/c of the replay ability - based on where things started out, what I had to do was different (and then there was always that blasted bat!)

The variety was very different at the time (and to some degree remains uncommon today - we do have some games you can play in whatever order you want, but not many where you have to play it in a certain order - but that order is different when you replay and could be randomly modified beyond that).

This game - looks like a pixel based metroidvania.
Great!?
...but this game is NOT Adventure - it's not Adventure at all.

I went from excited to super disappointed in the course of 60 seconds of the trailer.

Re: Video: 10 GameCube Games We Want On Switch 2's Online Expansion Pack

cyrus_zuo

Star Fox Adventures is not a great game.
I bought into the hype and bought it a few years back, I still have it, but IDK why - I will not play it again. It either wasn't that great back in the day or did not hold up well, but either way, it just is a bunch of meh.
FWIW - the much maligned, and notably not great WiiU Star Fox offering is much, much better than Star Fox Adventures imo.

Re: Nintendo Download: 8th May (North America)

cyrus_zuo

Wow - I may have to get Final Zone.

I have never played it - but - I played a lot of Final Zone II on TGX-CD (and while I stupidly sold my TGX collection - I kept like 3 games and FZ2 is one of them).

If FZ1 is like the sequel, I'll probably dig the first game.

Re: EA Commits To Switch 2, Will Be Bringing EA Sports FC And Madden NFL To The System

cyrus_zuo

I think it is worth noting what the actual quote was during the direct.

What they actually said was that FC was coming to Switch 2 and that Madden would also "be arriving on the Nintendo platform."
The fact that they did not say Switch 2 when talking about Madden may be meaningful.

My personal interpretation of that is that Madden may ALSO be coming to Switch 1 this fall.

Re: Mini Review: Breakout Beyond (Switch) - A Thrilling Iteration On An Arcade Classic

cyrus_zuo

I was looking for information around controls.

TLDR - Breakout games using an analog stick suck.

Tilt is serviceable (though still just no where near as fun as paddle controls).

Can someone confirm if this game is joystick only (trash garbage not worth playing let alone buying) or if it uses tilt (ok enough to try out).

Mouse may be the best way to play this sort of game, though pointer on the Wii worked well (stylus on the 3DS was frustrating).