Once again, so much to get through. And why don’t I post on everything that I’m finishing? Who knows... At least I have something to commit to for my New Year’s resolutions.
Bought a Wii U recently pretty much just for Smash (now I could do a post for Smash Bros., which has definitely been completed -- at least by Stan’s terms -- but let’s be honest, I consider it more of a competitive sport than a game that can be marked for completion), but I found myself strangely attract to one of the games that came bundled with the system. Super Mario 3D Word. Or was it land? Galaxy? I swear, the titling of the Mario franchise has become so fucking frustrating. There seems to be a handful of Mario-type games available for the Wii U right now and I can’t tell the difference between any of them. I guess this just goes to show how old I’m becoming. But, to the game... It’s fun as a guilty pleasure, but there are no last memories built around this experience.
Mario has been and is the staple for solid platforming fun. It always delivers on that jumping goodness that I still remember fondly from my childhood. I think the pinnacle of Mario’s achievement so far would either be Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Galaxy. Both were highly inventive for their time and has given me hours upon hours of joy playing. (On a side-note: we’ve at least received one sequel to the Galaxy franchise, but why no follow-up to Mario 64. Perhaps that’s what Galaxy was intended to be? Whatever, I digress...) This game, though. This 3D world. It served its purpose. It’s purpose being some mindless entertainment as I try and lull myself to sleep at night.
The game kind of took the reigns of their old classic, Super Mario Bros. 3. Similar in staging layout where you progress through a layout of several maps each containing a dozen or so levels, this new game really builds off the old. Some new innovations are that you must collect green stars from every level in order to pass through certain checkmarks (e.t., opening a castle might require you to have a horde of stars before unlocking the content). There’s also a cat-suit (beyond our familiar tanooki-suit) that allows you to take the form of a cat and, most notably, allow you to climb up walls for a short distance. I think those two factors are the only two major changes, except, of course, for the “3D” aesthetic element of the game... which I’m not that crazy about.
Now, I’m not against Mario leaving his 2D platformers for the great big 3D world -- hell, my favorite Mario games are designed that way -- but with the camera in a locked perspective (as it is in this game) the 3D becomes more of a hindrance than an asset. Although I found the game to be remarkably easy (I’ll touch more on its difficulty in a second), there were a lot of stupid mistakes stemming from my inability to determine where my character was going to land in this three-dimensional world of his. In the other Mario “3D” games, the camera typically remains at the third-person view following Mario. Or, at least, I could move the camera-guy, Lakitu, about so that I might be able to study my surroundings before making a jump to a tricky moving platform or something. Here, it just doesn’t work as well and ended up frustrating me a bunch as I began meticulously following my shadow in hopes I could accurately predict where I would land on the more difficult levels.
Then there’s the game’s difficulty. Nintendo has really taken it upon themselves to become the family-friendly console. I think they’re really trying to be the Disney of video games. And why not? It’s a market that has to be filled and their invention of the gamepad that allows the kids to continue playing games while the family might be using the TV for something else is just genius. My complaint is to just not dumb down the games to accommodate to more inexperience players. How are they “dumbing” down the games. Well, if you are ever in a bind playing 3D World and die a few times in a row, you’ll spawn on your new life with a special cat-suit that is also invincible. It’s a super powered item that I believe I only actually found when I was sucking really, really bad. So, the game rewards poor playing just so you can get to the end. And this I am not cool with.
What ever happened to the challenge and reward of beating something hard. To know when you completed a level or game, it’s something you earned. Now the game holds your hand as you waddle through it. This goes against everything we learned growing up with NES and SNES. The early Mario games always challenged us and never gave us a high-five for sucking. You kept playing till you got better. That’s the essential principle of gaming (besides having fun, of course). I just can’t wrap my head around this new development. I’m not sure what market testing gave them the insight for this. “Oh, little Timmy threw a temper tantrum when he couldn’t beat this level. So because this kid is a little shit who doesn’t have the patience or concentration to perfect his game, let’s give him this bullshit handicap to carry him to the end of the game.” Argh! It’s an infuriating addition to a game. What it ultimately does is ruin any lingering memories I’ll have of this game. I’ll never persevere a challenge which is, ultimately, what I take away from a game -- especially those games like Mario that really don’t depend on stories or art direction when trying to impress their audience.
I have many fond memories of my video game experiences (as I stated before with Mario 64 and Galaxy), but this -- although enjoyable to play in parts -- will ultimately be forgotten in due time like a fart in the wind because the game allowed me to win. I didn’t earn it. At this point my only lasting memory will be this ranting post.
It’s a fun fuck-around game that will leave you with no lasting impressions. And that’s disappointing for something in the Mario franchise. Here’s to hoping there’s another Galaxy (or should I say something entirely new?) lurking around the corner. At least something to make my purchase of this new system worthwhile. Seriously, there’s no fucking games other than Smash right now and it’s been out for TWO YEARS!!!
I’m signing off before I get caught digging down another rabbit hole.
Then, there's this...
MAAAAY the Force be with you, I totally disagree.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I agree with plenty you said - I also think games have gotten too easy, for instance - but this is hardly a Nintendo phenomenon. The nature of gaming has changed drastically over the last 30 years or so. It used to be, you made arcade games ridiculously hard because the more "continues" a guy had to use, the more quarters he was throwing into the slot. Then, in the NES and Genesis era, it was simply a matter of cartridge space - in order to artificially lengthen a game, a designer would pump up the difficulty so that the bulk of your time playing was spent going through various trials and errors. I mean, really, how long do you think you spent on this game? 10 or 15 hours? Likewise, how long do you think it took people to beat the original Super Mario Brothers? Probably less than that, even with all that dying. Games have gotten easier, sure, but they've also gotten far more detailed and longer. Have you ever played the original Legend of Zelda? That shit was infuriatingly difficult. But it still only took me like 8 or 9 hours to beat; Skyward Sword, though far less difficult, takes forty or fifty. Which game gives you better bang for your buck? And if you're looking for challenging, Nintendo still has plenty to offer. Try Donkey Kong Country Returns (or the sequel, Tropical Freeze). Those games are way harder than SNES DKC ever was. And have you tried clearing some of the harder events in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U? Ridiculously difficult, even for a seasoned Smash vet like myself. I also think Mario Kart 8 was more difficult than any previous entry in the series, save for the possible exception of the original SNES game, where the rubber band AI was just unfair. Super Mario World/Land/Galaxy has never represented the height of challenging gameplay during any era - but these other franchises have! Ripping a new Mario game for being easy is like ripping a new Wes Anderson movie for being twee and whimsy - this isn't a new phenomenon!
And I kind of just touched on my other point, which is that I think the Wii U finally actually does have a great catalogue of games. In addition to DKC Tropical Freeze and Mario Kart 8 as mentioned above, there's New Super Mario Bros. U and its (more difficult) spin-off New Super Luigi U, there's Bayonetta 2 (several are calling it the game of the year), there's Pikmin 3, there's the multiplayer fun-fest Nintendo Land, and there's Captain Toad, a spinoff to this very game you've reviewed. Additionally there are a decent amount of third party games, though, yeah, I'd get those on the XBone or the PS4. Speaking of those systems though, they've been out for a combined 2 years now - same length of time as the Wii U - and I don't think their combined catalogues hold a candle to the Wii U's offerings. Now, granted, you weren't saying that PS4 and XBone had great games to play and Wii U didn't, but you did say Wii U just had this game and Smash, and that simply ain't true!
Sorry if I came off like a Nintendo fanboy there - I'm really not one! I swear! - but I wanted to help you solve some of your problems (there are no games on the Wii U / the Wii U's games are too damn easy) by giving you some suggestions. Seriously, start with DKC Tropical Freeze. Or if you don't feel like spending any ore money for the time being, just dabble in the multitude of game modes in Smash and see how many challenges you can achieve. Marissa and I spent like 3 hours on one insubstantial co-op event - the difficulty is out there if you're willing to find it!
MAAAAAAAAAAY the Force be with you, but I disagree with your disagreement.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I also do agree with plenty that you have said, I wasn't necessarily speaking about the difficulty in the gaming industry, in general. I was just trying to point out how shitty this game is for giving you (essentially) a free-ride to complete the level if you happen to die a few times in a row. I'm all for a game maybe hiding secrets or cheats that allow the player to get an advantage over the challenges of the game, but to just gift wrap and having it laying out for you the next time you respawn is just plain sad and insulting to the gamer. I'm willing to put the effort into beating this game. Stop spoon feeding me a victory that I haven't actually earned.
I'll be sure to check out the DKC game, but I'm going to stand by my comment that Wii U is still struggling for titles. To be fair, all consoles are. However, with the Wii U having already been on the market for a full year longer than it's competition, I think it has very little to show for it. I wouldn't really go touting the illustrious titles of Nintendo Land and Captain Toad (both of them sort of feel like half of a game for the record), which only gives the system Smash Bros, Mario Kart, and Bayonetta 2 as their main "original" games (unlike the Windwaker remake -- which is fun!) that deserve a play. (Side note: haven't played Hyrule Warriors or DKC yet and the reviews seem to waiver from either amazing to lukewarm. So, maybe the lineup of satisfying games is slightly larger than I thought.) Point is, is that I feel like the system should have had a few more well-reviewed iconic games ready for release this holiday system. Once again, this criticism spans across all consoles. Still... the dilemma seems to hurt the Wii U a little more considering they've been on the market a full year ahead of its competition and really doesn't have much to show for it. A year is a long time. At the bare minimum we should have a new Matroid title or something right now, but we don't. Bah!!!
I'm getting side-tracked here. The only real complaint I was trying to say was just that my experience with the new Mario title was far more underwhelming than my previous experiences in this franchise, and my belief is that it's in part due to the low difficulty level and lack of innovation in the platforming genre as a whole.
Allow me to weigh in here:
ReplyDeleteFor me, the most must-have games are on Wii U (almost every one of their first and second-party offerings). The percentage of great games coming from Nintendo itself is very high in my opinion. However, from an exclusives perspective, Wii U is far and away the best console. The PS4 has 0 exclusive games anyone should care about and the Xbox One has a decent amount, just not as much as Wii U. Still, if you can only have one console it's hard to justify the Wii U. The third-party support is abysmal so Nintendo is gonna have to increase the rate at which it turns out great games.
I guess what I'm saying is that you are both right and that you should both buy all three consoles. FUCK RESPONSIBILITY!