#super mario 3d world hidden 1-ups

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

$58m+ weekend estimate for KUNG FU PANDA 4...

That beats the openings of the other two sequels (using KUNG FU PANDA 2's $47m 3-day opening, not its whole Memorial Day weekend take), sits nicely below the $60m opening weekend gross of the first movie. All the way back in 2008, without 3D or DBOX or today's ludicrous ticket prices. Still, impressive!

Really held its own nicely against DUNE: PART TWO's second weekend, too. Packed showtimes yesterday at work, so packed that the other animated family film option - also a Universal movie, MIGRATION - was packed down to the front row as well.

Given how well it was doing, the estimates - some project - might be a little on the low side. If this indeed tops $60m, and maybe even KUNG FU PANDA's opening weekend gross... This will be DreamWorks' first film to top that amount on opening weekend since MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED. All the way back in 2012.

As such, it is still the company's biggest domestic opening since HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD in 2019. COVID-19 really cut into some of the Comcast-era DreamWorks movies at the box office, and while theaters have been back for a while, a lot of DreamWorks' output now plays the same long game other animated movies have been playing as of late: Open small, have ludicrous legs. KUNG FU PANDA 4, being part of an iconic series that's over 15 years old now, obviously was poised to open a lot higher than - say - THE BAD GUYS. If DreamWorks fired up another sequel to an old favorite, like MADAGASCAR, I'm sure it'd open similarly.

(Remember when MADAGASCAR 4 was penciled in for a 2018 release over 10 years ago? Pepperidge Farm remembers...)

Also, I won't be surprised if - within a few months or so - KUNG FU PANDA 5 gets etched onto the schedule for a 2027 release.

Elsewhere in Universal and Jack Black animated movie land, it was announced today - MAR10 Day - that the new SUPER MARIO BROS. animated movie is in the works. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return to the helm, to no one's surprise.

An untitled affair, and described kind of as a new movie and not so much a direct sequel? Well, whatever it is, it's debuting April 3, 2026. Much like the first movie, an early April 2023 release that went on to become one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all-time... So we have a date for that, but not whatever studio Illumination is serving up in 2025. Maybe they'll take that year off? Who knows. We have DESPICABLE ME 4 this coming summer, and then there's a gap in the schedule til this new Mario movie.

Universal's animation schedule so far. Looks like a powerhouse!

7/3/2024 - DESPICABLE ME 4 (Illumination)

9/20/2024 - THE WILD ROBOT (DreamWorks)

1/31/2025 - DOG MAN (DreamWorks)

8/1/2025 - UNTITLED (DreamWorks)

9/26/2025 - UNTITLED (DreamWorks)

4/3/2026 - UNTITLED MARIO MOVIE (Illumination)

9/25/2026 - UNTITLED (unknown at the moment, likely DreamWorks)

Three DreamWorkses in 2025, most of which are likely outsourced to Sony Imageworks, that DOG MAN movie will probably be a Mikros collaboration like CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS was. Fitting, both being based on Dav Pilkey books. I have a feeling we'll get an Illumination in there somewhere, either a summer picture (SECRET LIFE OF PETS 3? Some original movie?) or a near-Christmas SING threequel. That is, if Paramount moves THE SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS from that slot. I don't know at the moment. We also have that third LEGO MOVIE still, that's got its directors, release could be anytime at this point.

[nintendouniverse2023]

ou remember of my idea Super Mario Bros and Sis right? So why not add what it would look like as a Nintendo Switch case. I also add the back. On the Top was Princesses Peach in her cell, looking at the bright star waiting for her heroes to rescue her.

On the Middle is the The Worlds each where the Koopalings were taking over. If you can look closer, you can see the power stars in their eyes as they took control of the Power Stars. As for Bowser, He has a burning star in his eye with a star, when he will use for the final showdown.

On the bottom was my new character "Para Koopa McCool"  A Para Koopa that was one of Marios Bros fans and uses Power-Ups to put the skills to the test has he was fascinated by what  Mara can really do with the Bros on her side, 3 years scene Mario and Luigi entered the Mushroom Kingdom.

Changes

This game will be in 3D mode because I think it will be cool.

Like 3D world, 3 Stars will be used in very level, including the hidden stamps.

The Coins will be used on 1-Ups every 100 coins but didn't go back to zero but the coin across before it stops to 999 coins, but it could be good use to buy power-ups.

Their will be no timers because I fell I could get a Mario game with out a timer like Odyssey.

All the bosses will get 5 hits on each battle because I fell like 3 hits were to easy so why not a real challenge.

As for the Koopalings and Bowser, I say 10 hits. 4 more hits as they know there nearly defeated, they will charge up as The Color of their wands *Bowser has a different color* resemble of their wand colors and their attacks will get stronger and faster to dodge from.

Leave a comment below to tell me what you think because I was thinking of making a story about it on Goggle Docs.

[lucretiaslitthenetherland]

Gaming Log for September 6th 2023

Nintendo Wii U

1. Super Mario Galaxy- got the surf star in loodeloop galaxy. Now I have 6 stars

Nintendo 3DS

1. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers Of The Sky- started a file, become a Piplup, teamed up with a Vulpix named Pumpkin and got her relic fragment back, and agreed to join an exploration team

2. Pokemon Alpha Sapphire- caught a silicon and added data for Silicon to the Pokedex

3. Pokemon Diamond- got my running shoes and my pokedex, got to keep my turtwig and named it, and caught a bidoof and added data for bidoof to the Pokedex

4. Pokemon Platinum- caught a Shinx and added data for Shinx to the Pokedex

5. Pokemon Picross- did the training drill, earned 7 picrites, and leveled up to training level 6

Nintendo switch lite

1. Super Mario 3D World- got the blast away the fury blocks cat shine on the bowsers fury part and 3 greens stars plus a stamp on the Plessies falls level

2. Pokemon Violet- beat a youngster trainer, caught an azurill, and added data for Azurill to the pokedex

3. Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu- caught a butterfree and added data for Butterfree to the Pokedex

4. Pokemon Shining Pearl- delivered the parcel, got a poketch, beat my rival, beat some trainers, and caught an Abra and added data for Abra to the Pokedex

5. Pokemon Sheild- beat a bunch of trainers, beat hop, got a letter of endorsement from champion Leon, got a wishing star, got a dynamax band, caught yamper and added data for Yamper to the Pokedex

6. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond- caught a Magikarp and added data for Magikarp to the pokedex

7. Super Mario 64- got the slip sliding away star on cool cool mountain

8. Pokemon Legends Arceus- caught a wurmple

9. Pokemon Quest- beat level 3-1, powered up my pokemon, and added an oddish and an Onix to the pokedex

10. Super Picross- did level 1 puzzle C

11. Super Mario All Stars- did world 3 and saved

12. Super Mario Odyssey- restored the oddsey ship, and got a power moon hidden under a crate in the ruins

13. Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga- crashlanded, had to pay off a troll, did the spin jump tutorial, beat a bunch of fighter flies and bill blasters and leveled up to level 3 and saved

14. Warioware Get it Together- did the That's Life level

Nintendo Gamecube

1. Super Mario Sunshine- defeated the goopie Pirahhna plant outside of Rico harbor, unlocked Rico harbor, and defeated Goopie Blooper

2. Luigis Mansion- started a file, met professor egad, got the poltergeist 2000, and caught the dad ghost

3. Warioworld- got an opal and saved

4. Paper Mario 2: The Thousand Year Door- arrived at Petalburg, agreed to stomp Hooktail, defeated the stone monsters in Schwonks fortress, beat some goombas and koopas, beat the quiz questions, beat some fuzzoes, and got the sun stone key, leveled up chose HP, and saved

[chakytron]

How 3 Hidden 1-Ups Eluded Players for Years in Super Mario 3D World

How 3 Hidden 1-Ups Eluded Players for Years in Super Mario 3D World

How 3 Hidden 1-Ups Eluded Players for Years in Super Mario 3D World Category Main Description: Play Skyforge on Nintendo Switch! ▻ https://wehy.pe/t/306/wehypeit A huge thanks to Skyforge for sponsoring this video! Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury … TopTrengingTV Hunting the most trend video of the moment, every hour every day 24/7. Youtube Video Data Published At: 2021-01-31T17:15:03Z…

[cyberramblings]

Wii U: From Me To You

I recently came into the possession of a Nintendo Wii U and I wanted to talk about the games I have been playing on it.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

This is the game I have been putting the most time in. I got through the first two major dungeons in the game. I like the puzzles, characters, and atmosphere but dislike the motion controls in combat and the inventory system. The real big test of how I feel about this game is whether or not I would jump straight to Wind Waker or Twilight Princess (#1 and #2 on the list of Wii U exclusive experience in 2021, the order of which is subject) before beating this game. While I have toyed with the idea, I at least want to dive in in to the third major area of the game before shelving the title. I do, however, dread the next Girahim fight...

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

A cute, fun title but I am going to need a lot more Mario before I need a different 2D platformer on this system.

Super Mario 3D World

I've played it before, but it's a great coop title. I probably won't play it alone though.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

An excellent collection of obstacle courses. I am nearly at the end of the first world, so not as far as I got last time I played but I am getting close. I will likely continue to play this as my go-to "pick up and play" title.

Metroid Prime Trilogy

Despite beating the whole Metroid series almost exactly a year ago, I will likely continue my trek through the Chozo Ruins. Metroid is a series with a lot of backtracking and potential for optimizing speed, so replaying the game almost just feels like picking up where you left off. As if I needed evidence that enough time has passed to warrant a replay, I got stuck on a stupidly easy "puzzle" early on that required the player to shoot a mushroom to reveal the hidden switch to open a door. I haven't played with motion controls before, but they work amazingly here. I especially look forward to playing Metroid Prime 3 with real motion controls, as intended.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

How neat that this is even on the Wii U! I have already played this game to death, but it is very novel to play on the Wii U. I beat my first and only run on the console thus far. Having the map on the gamepad is kind of neat.

Freedom Planet

I have this game on PC already but never gave it a fair shake. I have much more context after beating all the Sonic games since then! I found it a bit frustrating but I will have to give it another shot.

Wii Party U

It is just Mario Party with Miis, but that isn't so bad! A surprising amount of content to be had and lots of fun themed outfits for the Miis.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

Adorable art style, jury is still out on the gameplay. Further testing required.

Splatoon

This has been a ton of fun! I am surprised to see anyone still playing, but it is quite a lot like the sequel. I also want to play more of the campaign and maybe even complete the amiibo challenges to unlock the special outfit. I am impressed by how good it looks on the Wii U. The motion controls work really well too. Lots of fun (when I can actually get a match)

Game and Wario

Cute minigames, good uses of the gamepad. Hit or miss. I want to at least play all the games once.

Nintendoland

See above.

Star Fox Zero

Only completed the tutorial, but I am curious to play more and see if it ever "clicks" with me. I hear this is a real love or hate game.

NES Remix

I have already played the 3DS version but I love the concept and I want to see if I can unlock some of the exlcusive games.

Super Mario Brothers Advance 4: Super Mario Brothers 3

I only played a couple of the e-reader levels, but that is the whole reason I got this and I would like to explore them all because it fascinates me that Nintendo had the stupidity to make Mario content locked behind physical trading cards but then the genius to preserve them for all time in the Wii U Virtual Console release. I got frustrated and quit quickly but I plan on returning.

[danni-dollarsign]

A Critical Look at “Pokemon: Sword and Shield” From a Casual’s Perspective...

A/N: Hey! if you’re reading this, then thank you! I don’t know why, but I thought to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to write a pointless essay about a Pokemon game?” And then I realized today was the 1YR anniversary of SWSH, so I figured I might as well just do it! So even though I’m late and probably nobody will really care to read all this nonsense, I wrote it! If you’re interested in all the analyses of PKMN SWSH, but aren’t too invested in the technical mumbo-jumbo used by the more hardcore fans, then maybe you’ll enjoy this. 

Also, it’s worth mentioning that I’m literally just some rando on the internet saying my opinion. None of this should really be taken SUPER seriously - it’s mainly designed to provoke thought rather than try to argue any specific idea. So if I say something that you don’t agree with, you got two options: 1) Draft a constructive comment or DM to me and we can discuss calmly like adults, 2) shake your idea and ignore this. There’s really no need to get heated up over a video game essay, of all things, so let’s not do that lol. 

But other than that, yeah! If you’re interested in more stuff like this from me (in-depth analyses of Pokemon games from the perspective of a low-key casual), lemme know! I’d love to chat with anyone about this awesome series.

So, without any further ado, let’s get into the essay (warning: it’s like ~8k words).

Introduction...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Pokemon! Love it or hate it, Pokemon has had a huge impact on popular culture in countless countries in a number of different ways, sparking memes, dreams, and happiness everywhere! It holds a very special place in my heart - Pokemon was a game that I got to share with my two older siblings, was one of the first fandoms I got into, and was a big reason as to why I grew to love creative writing so much after writing a couple fanfictions for the games. I’ve been playing Pokemon ever since my brother gave me a copy of Pokemon: Ruby and have been a devoted fan ever since. While I may not be super into the strategy and damn near mathematical aspects of gameplay, I’d like to consider myself a relatively knowledgeable fan with enough extra knowledge to give a look at one of these games from a casual, yet analytical view. So what game other than the newest title, Pokemon: Sword and Shield, with its release anniversary being today? In this casual online essay, I hope to describe all my thoughts of Sword and Shield (which I’ll shorten down to just “SWSH”) from the perspective of the everyday Pokemon fan.

General Gameplay...

Many top-title games of Nintendo are best known for their simplicity: in Super Mario Bros, you’re a mustachioed red guy jumping on monsters to try and save some random princess (who may or may not be in this castle); in The Legend of Zelda, you’re a green elf-looking guy slashing wildly at monsters with a sword given to you by some old guy in hopes of defeating some ultimate bad guy; and in Pokemon, you’re a child wandering around the region catching monsters who also accidentally saves the world before becoming the very best (like no-one ever was). And while the games themselves have grown from that initial stylistic simplicity, some have lost that creative in-depthness in favor of being playable for children. This is probably the biggest issue with the newer Pokemon games as of late.

Regardless, let’s look into the playability of SWSH.

It’s played like your regular Pokemon game; you’re a kid who journeys to become the Champion of Pokemon Battling with your friend, catching monsters known as “Pokemon” with pocket-sized balls dubbed “Pokeballs.” But I’m sure you’re all aware of that information, and are instead asking “Well, what’s the deeper plot?” Yeah, no, that’s it. You’re a kid catching Pokemon to become champion - oh, and you also accidentally save the world from a power-hungry businessman - but that’s neither here nor there.

Plot aside, the game is a bit barebones. It’s pretty linear gameplay (literally linear - the map of the Galar region is almost exactly a straight-line waltz from Postwick to Wyndon, which is a bit weird after dealing with the giant, sprawling maps of earlier generations) where you travel from place to place, beating gyms and catching ‘mons, before getting into a couple scuffles and becoming champion. For an RPG-styled game, it comes off as much too simplistic for older fans (I’d even reason that it’s too simplistic for younger players, as well). While I will say, I don’t exactly miss the days of hopelessly wandering around a pixel city, trying desperately to figure out how to move on to the next town because the answer to the puzzle is hidden in this giant area that my little peanut-brain couldn’t figure out at the time. But it is a bit demeaning to get “Hey, do you know where to go?” and  “Hey, follow me so you don’t get lost!” and “Oh, yeah, want another tutorial on how to easily catch Pokemon for the fourth time in a row?” every two seconds in a city where there’s only two places to check out.

But we can’t really discuss the gameplay of Pokemon without discussing the highlights of the region. Ever since the transition from 2D to 3D, Pokemon games have begun a trend of gimmicks - which I like to call “battle enhancers” - that they use to add uniqueness to their games. X&Y had Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon (and USUM) had Z-Moves, and now we have Dynamax! As we all know, battle enhancers are the strategy by which the player uses some extraterrestrial/magic stone to physically enhance one pokemon at a time for a certain period of time - in the case of Dynamax, the pokemon either grows in size or changes in form, gaining the ability to use special type-based attacks for a duration of three turns.

Honestly, I think it’s a pretty fun mechanic! Dynamax combines the good components of both Z-Moves and Mega Evolution - new forms, awesome moves, and a ticking clock. It adds a bit more strategy to the battle enhancer, where the player actually has to plan out who and when to Dynamax (though it’s really not that hard - most everyone will save it for their ace or the pokemon with the type advantage at the very end of the battle, because that’s what you do). But it’s fun and creative, making the battle a bit more exciting when you see your beloved ace become gargantuan on a field while the audience chants in excitement. Initially, I was skeptical of the battle enhancer, but once I threw myself into the game and really got into it, I felt it was fun and cool for the region. My feelings were further improved when I learned that Dynamax was inspired by the idea that the Nintendo Switch had the potential to be played on the TV as well as in a hand-held mode. The idea of turning pokemon “big” on a “big-screen” is really just so cute to me, really. Overall, it’s a fitting concept that is paired well to the game when everything is considered.

But when you look beyond the Dynamx experience to find more content in the game… there’s really not much else. Many people (including me) were ecstatic to hear about the free-roam areas in SWSH - the Wild Areas. Here, you can do all the fun grinding stuff that makes Pokemon games a bit more challenging and fun - hatching eggs, shiny-hunting, running around in circles, Dynamax dens, etc. But when looking at other Pokemon games, that’s really it. Let’s examine Pokemon: Sun and Moon, for example. This game really shines not just for its refreshing setting and compelling plot-line, but also for it’s amount of cute and quirky mini-games to be enjoyed for a good while outside of the main story. Pyukumuku Chucking, Mantine Surfing, the Alolan Photo Club, Ultra Warp Ride Travel - a good handful of mini-games that appeal to different kinds of people! All of these mini-games aren’t just tossed in there, either - they have a fitting place in the culture of the world and add to it, rather than just reiterating it. But when you look for mini-games in SWSH, you won’t really find anything aside from just battling. Sure, there’s the Battle Tower, as well, but I’ll personally say that I’ve never been a fan of the concept of post-game NPC battle buildings. For a hardcore player, they might be fun, but as a casual who can’t devote the time to really dig into understanding how IVs and competitive breeding works, they’re really no fun. Not to mention that nothing is really being added or developed with these battle buildings; they don’t add to lore, they don’t add to the culture of the region, you don’t even really gain anything from it - they’re pretty much just places to battle the occasional familiar face and that’s it. While I’m sure plenty of people adore these facilities in the games, I’ve never been too partial to them (I’d even prefer those god-forsaken casinos over another goddamn battle frontier).

But my biggest problem lies with the release of the DLC. While I’m not against the idea of DLC in general, both The Isle of Armour and The Crown Tundra left a bitter taste in my mouth when I started thinking about the issue of playability in SWSH.

I have always been more invested in the storyline of Pokemon games rather than the battling aspects. Usually I’ve always just gotten through the main story, then wandered around to find extra post-game content or mini-games, and then moved on to other games. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing - I just figure that the games have served their purpose for me upon completion, so rather than bore myself wandering around and doing things that don’t interest me, I go find another game that has more story-based content. That being said, I finished SWSH in less time than any other Pokemon game (I’d say somewhere around twenty hours, complete with me running around in circles like an idiot before rushing through content intermittently); as a result, I was no longer actively playing the game by the time the DLC was announced.

I’ll be honest and say that when I learned about all that was being offered in both sets of DLC, I felt a bit betrayed. I’m well-aware that Nintendo is a corporate business, and therefore will always prioritize financial gain over their fans’ lasting enjoyment of their titles - that’s just a fact of life. But I couldn’t help but feel like I paid a bunch of money for the bundled titles, only to play a game that hardly could be considered worthwhile or satisfying without added headcanons or fan-works, and then get told that extra content is available that may or may not add satisfaction to the experience that’s already long since ended for me. It was just a bit disappointing - and I’m not talking about the whole “Dexit” deal (I actually was on-board with the idea of having no real National Dex - I felt it added realism to the games and would force players to get to know the new Pokemon instead of just choosing the same team they always have since Gen 1 or whatever). My gripe is that I paid for a whole game, wasn’t satisfied with the result, only to hear later that the content that I might have been missing is available to pay for? That’s incredibly annoying. Not to mention that I was further disappointed after learning about the contents of the DLC, but we’ll get into that later.

Overall, the playability of SWSH is very basic, but can be enjoyable if you suspend belief and just enjoy it for what it is. When it comes to storyline, it’s not much of a game, and doesn’t sport much post-game content besides battling.

Immersion and Ambience...

Many of my friends can attest that I tend to like silly, fantastical concepts because I personally love to throw myself into the universe being offered to me. Pokemon is really no different - the games have always sported a very immersive experience for me thanks to the combination of interesting regions and evocative music (especially the music).

I think that most every Pokemon fan has a specific region, city, and music theme that sparks a plethora of nostalgic emotions to the point of near tears. For me, that’s always been Pokemon: Platinum, the Twinleaf Town theme - just staring into the rippling reflection of the pond by the player’s home, listening to that beautiful synth clarinet playing that nostalgic melody - it makes my heart beat with so much fervent passion that I hardly have the words to describe it! And I think that sense of nostalgia - regardless of whether or not those memories are old or new - has always been a strong-suit for Pokemon games. They always have the ability to inspire such deep emotions in me and other alike in a variety of ways, further adding to the ability to immerse us into the game’s world. And whether your favorite area is as simple as Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region, or as agonizing as Rock Tunnel in Kanto, it’s the spirit of certain cities/towns/routes that further add to the immersion of the world in question. But how well does SWSH hold those values? Spoiler Alert: Not very well.

SWSH, in the end, is still a Pokemon game - so the setting is very vibrant and colorful and everything that can hold my attention for long periods of time. But the problem arises when one begins to progress through the game and continuously forgets what’s where and where’s what. A lot of the map is painfully basic (again, due to the literal linear nature of the Galar region) and the cities themselves kind of lack their own real originality. There was an attempt at unique cities that’s become iconic of the Pokemon franchise, but it doesn’t really stick. I think most people would agree with me that the only real memorable areas in the main game were Slumbering Weald, Ballonlea, and Spikemuth, and each of these areas have their own set of problems that also make them a bit difficult to fully enjoy. At their core, most all Galarian cities have the same basic set-up: basic green plants (if plants are in that area at all), the same brick roads that lead either to the gym or to a route leading in/out of city to another city, and a giant gym/key building in the center of it all. And that’s really about it. No real interesting buildings except for gyms and Rose Tower (and I guess technically the hotels), no extraneous locations that aren’t directly related to the plot or to gimmicks - it’s very bare-bones and really can take you out of the experience.

In a hard contrast, I’ll give the example of Generation 1’s region set up - every city has its own personality that also matches the feel of the region as a whole. Every city is based on colors, and each city is themed after that, respectively (i.e. Vermillion City, the city of sunsets themed around the color orange, is home to the Pokemon Fan Club and the kick-ass electric-type gym that initiates feelings of excitement; Lavender Town, the noble town themed around the color purple, is home to the Pokemon Tower and spooky spirits that inspire feelings of somberness and reticence). Obviously, this isn’t very realistic, but the trick isn’t to replicate reality - it is to inspire reality. The Kanto region is incredibly creative, and therefore is easy to immerse oneself into the world because it’s become a world we are actively interested in. We know that it could never truly be real or plausible, but that hardly matters when we are so enthralled with the colors and set-up and feeling of the towns. We don’t really get much of that in Galar. It probably isn’t such a great idea for your final city - being Wyndon - to feel blank and lifeless when compared to minor cities in the region. And even when we find cities that hold that uniqueness we desire like in Spikemuth or Ballonlea, there’s really no other reason to be there longer than just beating the gym. It’s sad, really. Spikemuth is such a interesting, creative-looking town home to such cool characters, and yet there literally is only one path to get in and out of the town - the town isn’t even given small houses to investigate like literally every other city in the region. It’s a waste of potential! The fact that I can’t investigate such a promising setting that inspires me really takes me out of the world, reminding me that this is just a video game in which you move from Point A to Point B. It’s no longer a fantasy world for me to explore, but instead a line at the DMV to get my Drivers’ License. The only real good thing about this is that fanfiction writers get so much free-reign when it comes to writing about the city - the only thing we really learn about the city is that it’s underfunded and gloomy and that’s literally it. I would have really liked to see more inspired cities around the region where things outside of the main plot can be done, but hopefully this is just a problem we’ll see in this region.

Probably the most important aspect of immersion (in my opinion) is the music. With the potential to make or break a game for me, I hold a lot of expectations on the music found in video games (I’ve been classically trained in music since elementary school, and have always had a fondness for video game music). Pokemon music has always been some of the most inspiring pieces of art in my life - whether it be the kickass battle suite of Champion Cynthia, or the somber piano melody of Emma’s Theme, the music of Pokemon has always been the first thing I notice and analyze whenever playing the latest title. That all being said, I have quite a few notes to make in regards to the soundtrack of SWSH.

I’ll start with the pros, first. Generally, every main title has had its own feel when it comes to the soundtrack - DPP was jazzy and smooth, Sun and Moon was based on popular Hawaiian music meshed together with classic Pokemon synths, RSE was all about the horn section (trombones and french horns all the way!). SWSH, at the end of the day, isn’t much different. The region is inspired by the UK, so it’s no surprise to discover that the soundtrack was inspired by popular British Rock. As a result, a lot of themes went really hard, keeping a hint of individuality even when some battle themes hosted similar instruments. The biggest appeal of the soundtrack, I believe, was found in the little moments, namely the cheers of the gym battle themes. I think it’s safe to say that most people get super hyped when they hear those rhythmical chants coming to life whenever in the final leg of the battle, right when you begin to Dynamax. That’s amazingly exciting, never failing to suck me into that exact moment to gather the power of God and anime to defeat my opponent. While I wasn’t totally rocking out to every single song that came on, I was pretty satisfied with the music of SWSH, overall. It’s not too bad, and hosts a few bops that I still seek out to get my blood pumping.

But, as to be expected, there are plenty of cons when it comes to the soundtrack of SWSH. I could go over this for hours and hours, detailing complex definitions of music theory and basic song comprehension, but I’ll just make this nice and simple: it was really bland.

Note that I said “bland” and not “bad” - the music is fine in my opinion, I just wasn’t feeling the same feelings as I had in previous Pokemon titles. It all felt like Pokemon music, but not much else. It was like remembering hints of a memory long-lost, but you don’t really care about to dig deep into your mind for context. Towns had music, routes had music, pokemon and characters had battle themes, yada yada yada, nothing really to write home about. If I had to pick a song that honestly, truly invoked emotions beyond “Oh it’s battle time, now”, it would have to be the Battle Tower Theme, and that’s most likely because it was written by someone else entirely (Toby Fox, also known as the creator of Undertale and composer of super hard-hitting jams). And the worst part is that I never would have even been able to hear the Battle Tower theme because I hate battle buildings (which is more of a personal problem, I know, but still). Honestly, I would have preferred hearing that theme as compared to Champion Leon’s battle theme - I feel like his champion theme was very bland and lifeless, simply holding all the required elements of a Pokemon battle theme just because that’s what has to happen. It’s uninspired, faceless, and corporate, only to be completely foiled by the unique blast of energy found in the Battle Theme, which just screams “Prove that you’re the best!” over and over to me (also known as a big theme in the Pokemon games, especially in SWSH).

That’s not to say that every other theme in the game was terrible. I much enjoyed Marnie and Piers’ battle themes, but for a different reason. As we know, Piers and Marnie host a more “punk rock” style when compared to literally everyone else in-game, a trademark of Spikemuth citizens. With their occasionally cold and prickly (no pun intended) personalities, their themes go a bit harder into rock-land as compared to characters like Hop or Bede. There’s no conflict of style there - it’s “punk” with “rock”, loads of guitars and bass with a hint of synths to keep that Pokemon flare, and fits a bit better in the setting of the world. Mild conflict arises when we start looking at characters who aren’t rockstars or idols - let’s look at Bede’s theme, for example. While it really isn’t a bad theme (it’s actually, dare I say, a bop), I wouldn’t exactly say that the resulting pieces fit neatly together like they do for the Spikemuth duo. Bede’s theme requires a lot of synths to accentuate his more flamboyant and immature personality, but also holds ties with the rock guitars while also trying so desperately hard to sound like a Pokemon song. Now, I don’t think “Pop Synth Rock” is anything bad, per se; I just feel like the added rock elements didn’t do much to add to the musical representation of our cliche jerk-face “rival”. It feels like the rock elements were an after-thought rather than a planned layer of musicality. I could really say the same thing about Hop’s theme, but then I would have to re-listen to Hop’s theme because I always forget what it sounds like even after listening to it a second before.

A big problem is that not many of these themes hold lastingly memorable motifs/melodies, which is a personal pet-peeve of mine in games where the music is highly esteemed. In pretty much every battle theme (except the generic pokemon encounter theme, which is the same melody in every Pokemon game, only with variations added to fit the music theme of the region) is just an on-going strip of notes that sound nice when playing the game, but if you tried to pick out the specific melody-line of that character, it’s a bit of work to really find anything. Let’s look at a more concrete example: Lusamine’s battle theme from Pokemon: Sun and Moon is up on my list of most memorable battle themes, and will do well without the extra influence of young me’s nostalgia seeping in like it would with earlier generations’ battle themes. Lusamine, as we know, was the elite antagonist of the game, being the leader of this esteemed Pokemon protection group who later is revealed to be using Pokemon for her own demented goals of perfection. Almost immediately, the player hears the signature accents of the harpsichord playing the prime motif before the piece digs into a full orchestration. It doesn’t sacrifice anything for the sake of “sounding like a Pokemon song”, nor does it sacrifice anything for the sake of keeping with the musical inspiration. Instead, it focuses on being exactly what it needs to be - a musical representation of Lusamine, hosting orchestra-based instruments (piano, violas and cellos, horns, violins, light pad synths, etc…). Most anyone can pick out a handful of memorable motifs from her theme (the main horns melody line, the harpsichord melody line, the mid-section cello and piano melody line, etc…), and those remain in our unconscious. So, it’s no surprise that when she becomes the “Mother Beast” later on, when the player hears hints of those signature melody lines becoming distorted in the madness of the new battle theme, it invokes a particular emotion that fits elegantly with the subject matter of the plot right then. In short, it’s musical storytelling done right. In SWSH, we don’t have that extra omph of emotionally-nostalgic motifs; instead, we just get songs that play in the background of this video game, and that’s really it. If you don’t like the song, good news - you’ll probably only hear it once or twice, depending on who the NPC is. If you do, then you’re out of luck for the very same reasons. This game lacks a very basic hint of soul to its soundtrack, which is really such a jarring idea especially when you realize that they paired up with a composer who arguably has mastered the idea of musical motifs (Fox).

This really isn’t just SWSH’s problem, either. I also went through a similar heartbreak in S&M during the final stretch of the main game; after battling Lusamine and saving the region from the threat of Ultra Beasts (more or less, anyway), we the player go to challenge the champion, who is revealed to be Profession Kukui since there really is no true champion for the newly-made league. It’s hard to go from an exciting, powerful battle theme like Lusamine’s to some generic, cardboard-cut-out version of a champion battle theme for Kukui. It’s hard to invoke any sort of emotional appeal when there’s no real inspiration to be felt in the music; with no emotional connection, there is no emotion. It’s, once again, just music that plays in the background of a video game. A similar experience happens in SWSH with the player’s match against Champion Leon; though we have the potential to gain an emotional connection to a Leon Theme motif, we don’t get that. Instead, we just get music that is programmed to be exciting for our championship match that will undoubtedly change our lives forever. Bland, boring, anti-climatic - all for the sake of coloring in the lines. This has been an on-going problem in Pokemon games for years in which the Championship Battle Theme is less interesting than the Evil Team Battle Theme, which probably isn’t a good idea. It’s annoying when your villain has a better theme than the literal strongest trainer in the region - it ruins the chances of likability for the region’s “good guys” and overall is anti-climatic when it is finally time to become champion.

Overall, the ability to immerse someone like me in a game is very important when it comes to retaining players. While SWSH isn’t the worst Pokemon game when it comes to immersion (considering the fact that I actually beat the main game, which I can’t say for other main Pokemon titles…), Game Freak certainly could stand to learn from the game’s shortcomings.

Creature and Character Design...

The monster design is arguably one of the most controversial topics when it comes to any Pokemon game. Some people only care about the designs of Gen 1, others accept everything but Gen 5, and a select few could rant for hours on the stupidity of literally every Pokemon design in the franchise. Regardless, the design of the Pokemon native to the Galar region is an important topic of discussion when analysing the potential for enjoyment of the game. After all, I’m an artist who loves drawing all my favorite characters as well as my favorite Pokemon, so understanding the designs of these beloved figures is vital to understanding the game in general. For sanity’s sake, I’ll only be discussing new Pokemon introduced in this region, and will be ignoring all previous pokemon that aren’t regional variants.

Overall, the designs of the latest Pokemon are satisfactory. Because of my tendency to always suspend belief in fantasy works, I’ve very rarely had much to hate about Pokemon designs (not even in Gen 5, though I don’t particularly like any of them aside from the game cover legendaries). SWSH didn’t really bring much to the table when it comes to brand-new Pokemon, but the ones introduced are fitting and interesting: the Dragapult line, all three starters (even if I did laugh for literal hours at the discovery of Cinderace’s typing), Wooloo and Dubwool, Yamper and Boltund - just to name my top favorites. And I was totally invested in the designs of the game cover legendaries, Zamazenta and Zacian, since they held cultural relations with the region’s inspiration and therefore had actual meaning within the game besides just being cool mythical creatures. Nothing really outright bothered me with the designs or pokemon choices in this game; as I mentioned earlier, I was okay with the idea of no National Dex for this region, and that all the pokemon allowed in this game matched with the region well-enough.

But, of course, it’s not without faults. I found there to be a substantial lack of original legendaries in this game - we only have three real legendaries to catch in the main-game, four if you consider the DLC. We had a similar problem in Pokemon: Sun and Moon, but it was later amended with the introduction of Ultra Beasts (which can technically be regarded as legendary Pokemon, albeit from another dimension and not technically Pokemon). In SWSH, we are only given the option of catching more than two legendaries if we buy the DLC - this is remarkably disappointing for those who are interested in seeing new, unique Pokemon designs. I know many fans are constantly frustrated with Game Freak’s tendency to overuse Gen 1 Pokemon, but the fact that nobody is bothered by the running trend of being able to easily catch a bunch of previous games’ legendaries is beyond me. It’s essentially the same thing, overly relying on the fanbase’s sentimental nostalgia rather than moving forward to create new creature designs. I know for a fact that so many people would have been excited to catch Pokemon with cultural significance (maybe like elf Pokemon that resemble that of Seelie/Unseelie fairies, or more Pokemon that resemble chess pieces, or maybe more Pokemon that follow a theme of medieval artifacts - there are many possibilities), so the fact that they skimped out in favor of making people pay for nostalgia is ridiculous to me. This was a majority of the reason why I rejected buy any of the DLC content - why would I pay for Pokemon I’ve technically caught before? I mean, I guess it can be more for the kids who have never encountered the older legendaries, but then again, wouldn’t it be more beneficial for your game to have Pokemon that actually represent the new region? Instead of just stealing other games’ legendaries for the sake of saying that you have them, they could have just worked a little harder to design maybe three or six more cool legendary designs and centered those guys around the two DLC locations instead of just having Calyrex for The Crown Tundra. At the end of the day, it’s really just a cash-grab; the only reason I could ever see myself understandably buying the DLC for SWSH would be because I wanted to interact more with my favorite NPCs, but then again, I can just look at screenshots on Twitter and feel just as satisfied.

But not all is lost in terms of designs. Now let’s get into my favorite design portion of this segment and discuss the NPCs.

First, we’ll dig into the rivals. Personally, I really enjoyed the rivals of this game; while Pokemon is definitely running on a formula, I still was able to find enough about the three rival characters to genuinely enjoy their presence whenever they came on screen. I suppose we can expect to keep seeing this new Pokemon Trainer Rival Formula: Kind of Annoying but Too Sweet to Hate BFF Rival (Hop), 2 Edgy 5 U Rival (Bede), and Some Pedo’s Waifu Material Rival (Marnie).

Hop is arguably one of my favorite Pokemon rivals of all time (right up there with Gladion from S&M). He’s one of the only Pokemon characters to get a realistic character development over the course of the game’s playable story, which really humanizes him and makes up for his occasionally annoying personality. Over the course of the game, Hop goes from silently residing in his brother’s shadow to learning to stand on his own without needed any outside validation; much to my surprise, it’s not some half-hearted transition. Hop doubts himself during the challenge, as evidenced not just by his dialogue but in the way he actively changes his team to try and be more competitive like everybody else. I remember feeling so heartbroken in realization that Hop stopped using his beloved Wooloo, which is rightfully paired up with the excitable boy. The idea that Hop uses Wooloo, a normal-type cute Pokemon that generally wouldn’t be used in a competitive team, really adds more dimension to his character; when he learns to enjoy himself instead of letting his doubts overtake him, he returns to using Dubwool and his favorite team, demonstrating how he would prefer to have fun as himself than be someone he isn’t. I found that to be a really wholesome theme to his character, one that we haven’t really seen in a Pokemon game yet - it was a pleasant surprise! Hop is sweet and kind, always wanting to motivate the player even when he’s in his own internal turmoil. With all that added with his adorable babyface and goofy/awkward preteen disposition, he really makes for a likeable rival character.

The next rival to be introduced is none other than our classic Mean Boy rival, Bede. He’s a character the fanbase is a bit more accustomed to due to previous titles’ rivals (i.e. Green/Blue/Gary Oak from in R&G/B, Silver from SGC, technically also Gladion from S&M…), so are quite a few expectations placed on his character as a result. Also true to the typical Pokemon Jerk Rival, he has a complicated homelife (he comes from an orphanage, as we later learn) and has a similarly complicated parent-child relationship to the leading antagonist of the game (in this case, Chairman Rose). Bede constantly assumes himself to be better than he is and isn’t afraid to be a total prick about it, choosing to bully Hop upon winning battles against him to boost his own inflated ego (though there’s hints pointing to Bede actually having rather low self-esteem). All things considered, I liked Bede as a character about as much as one can like a mean rival archetype, but I was more than pleased to discover his transition to a more likably mean-spirited character when he later returns to the game to challenge the player after being disqualified from the challenge. While we’ve had a likeable mean rival before (namely Gladion), Bede is something of his own entity with how he actually has an attempt at character development that leads him to a mini-redemption near the end of the game. He’s really the first mean rival to have a transition from total jerk to slightly-peeved tsundere, which was probably a good idea on Game Freak’s part so that we wouldn’t be left with a character we downright hated after the way Bede quite literally destroys Hop’s confidence. It’s nowhere near as impressive as Hop’s character development (which isn’t super impressive to begin with, but let’s ignore that fact for a bit), but it’s still interesting to see in a monster-catching game about being the best you can be.

And then, of course, we get to the cute-girl rival, Marnie, also known as the place where I get a bit mad again. I’d like to say that I absolutely love Marnie; she has an adorable design and interesting personality that captures my attention whenever she has screen time. But she serves one purpose in this game, and one purpose alone - being the main cute girl rival of the game. Marnie has the potential to be a similarly interesting rival (cute design that meshes “punk” with “cute”, has a wholesome and fun dynamic with her gym leader older brother, uses a Pokemon that isn’t considered to be a “competitive” choice as her ace, has a cool/cute personality…), and yet we probably only talk to her about five times over the course of the main game. Little is done with her character - in fact, the only real thing she does in the game other than becoming the next dark-type gym leader is that she helps the player sneak into Spikemuth after the gates have been shut by the remarkably-harmless Team Yell. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I would have loved to have seen more done with her character. With the boy rivals being more fleshed out than her, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth because the female rival is the one left with a blank personality (and I’m not just saying that because she hardly smiles - that’s really one of the only things we get about her that gives her an actual personality). My frustrations are further exacerbated because this has always been an issue in Pokemon games, in which the girl rivals are so barebones for seemingly the only purpose of serving as some neckbeard’s waifu that they can input a personality they desire despite the fact that she’s canonically a minor. Why put in the time to give dimension to Hop and Bede, but not Marnie? And we know for a fact that Game Freak has to recognize the lack of personality given to Marnie, especially since they had previously come out with Lillie’s wonderfully sweet character arch in S&M and USUM. Personally, I feel that it was because they didn’t feel like having a more punkish girl character who also had traditionally feminine-coded interests (she’s known to have been distracted during the gym challenge by the boutiques) and ultimately decided to just not give her any further personality other than that, perhaps fearing that it would dissuade the gross creeper fanbase from latching onto her. But that’s really just speculation, so don’t take any of my nonsense too seriously. Really, I’d just rather we had a girl rival with more personality to match the other two rivals so it wasn’t so annoyingly unbalanced.

Moving on from the rivals, we get into the designs of the League Staff of the game. In most other Pokemon games, I’d never really been too interested in the gym leaders; they had always been more of minor bosses, just faces that you saw for a couple of seconds before pummeling their ‘mons and moving to the next city. But in this game in particular, there was a sudden transition from simple puzzle master to a full-on celebrity figure. I really enjoyed this! It was so nice to actually have some information on the gym leaders other than what type they sported; suddenly, they have personalities and interests - they become real to the player. Not to mention that there really is a gym leader for everyone to enjoy, thanks to their unique personalities and styles.

I’ll be a bit honest and say that some of their clothing designs are remarkably stupid for even an anime-based RPG game (I mean, I know we joke about Leon’s terrible sense of fashion in the fanbase, but can we just pause and ponder what Piers’ wears? I mean, a leather jacket with spandex? Metal boots and a work-out tank??? What is he wearing?!), but it isn’t exactly distracting. In Western cultures in particular, we can see a trend towards the glamourization of the “athleisure” style, or athletic wear designed more for everyday use rather than just working out. It was kind of fitting to see this be the primary style for the gym leaders, who can basically be described as hierarchical sports stars. Weird? Sure. But in the context of the world, it all fits together, and once again adds to the immersion aspect of the game.

Looking at our main antagonists, they are designed quite well. Chairman Rose is designed to be quite easy and fun to hate (at least for me) - he’s an important-looking businessman who’s very impressed with himself, paired up with a beautiful yet terrifying subordinate woman who does most all the hardwork for him (...actually, they kind of remind me of an antagonistic Cl. Mustang and Lt. Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist…). They also had noteworthy battle themes that popped a bit more than other battle themes in the game.

While they hardly count as antagonists, I’d like to also make a brief mention of Team Yell. They’re more annoying than anything, which is a trend that I’m not too sure how I feel about yet. It was definitely more likable coming from Team Skull, that’s for sure. I would have liked Team Yell doing a bit more damage, having them be a bit more unruly and controversial before evening them out with the whole emotional appeal of them cheering on for Marnie in hopes of saving their ruined town. But they weren’t too terrible in my opinion.

I could talk for hours on the champion of the region, too, Champion Leon. He’s a really fun and charming character overall, less of the supremely wise and powerful champion that we’ve seen in older gens and instead being a more quirky but worthwhile opponent on the path towards the crown. But I definitely preferred him more as a character than as a champion; even though his team changes depending on your starter, it’s not too challenging of a fight if you know what you’re doing, especially when you immediately know what his ace pokemon is (something we don’t really learn in other gens about the champions). While I’m sure the idea of a powerful but transparent champion can be done, Leon doesn’t really stand up as a powerful trainer when compared to other champions in the franchise. But he’s definitely still a fun, interesting character concept that I am grateful for in this particular game.

When it comes to the designs of the primary NPCs and Pokemon, SWSH continues to talk that line just above mediocrity. Not too bad, not all that great, but definitely not something to be forgotten. I’d reason that the primary strength of this generation lies within the characters that are introduced.

Uniqueness vs. Status as a Pokemon Game...

In regards to the uniqueness - how well this game stands on its own as an individual concept rather than just another Pokemon game - I’m a bit divided. On one hand, I’m a bit saddened by the watering down of content and constant reliance on concepts from older games. But I can also see that SWSH introduced a lot of interesting ideas that have inspired so many fans for this generation. And while yes, this gen didn’t have much to offer in terms of new Pokemon, new scenarios, or new lore, I do think that it does hold its own when compared to the other games in the main series. New characters are introduced to the player, all of which having good (and bad) traits that allow for lots of fan-created content with their essence; a new look into a brand-new battle enhancer that requires a different strategy than those of previous battle enhancers; a new culture found within the Galar region that can inspire many more thoughts and theories on the Pokemon world as a whole in a number of ways. We cannot pretend that SWSH isn’t an influential game just because it wasn’t ground-breaking; even with my extreme distaste for the Black and White games, I still admit that they led to important decisions and ideas that led to the creation of games I did enjoy. So, as its own entity, I think that Pokemon: Sword and Shield really has a lot of offer and would probably be an amazing game for a younger player who’s just getting into the Pokemon universe.

But I think that a lot of us long-time fans can agree that this game doesn’t quite match up with the others in terms of giving those real “Pokemon game” feelings. The problem with big-titles like this is that the company tends to lose sight of what really makes a franchise so influential isn’t the stuff found at face-value. It’s not the creatures or NPCs or game mechanics or design or any of that garbage - it’s the feelings we get when all of those things reach that perfect harmony. It’s the rumble in my chest whenever I listen to that famous intro-sequence of my old Pokemon: Ruby game; it’s the fire in my eyes when I went back to challenge Pokemon Trainer Red for the tenth time that night back in my old Pokemon: Heart Gold game; it’s the tears I cried when I watched the only interesting character, N, leave my playable character after his emotional spiel following the defeat of Ghetsis in my long-since abandoned copy of Pokemon: White. At the end of the day, Pokemon is more of an emotion I get rather than a game I play, and I think this is an idea that few people can recognize for themselves. And while I’m aware that I literally just spent several thousand words bagging and praising this game for all those face-value aspects, I also know that when you add that extra little bit of care to your work, go a little further with a character you know someone will adore, or try something new with that new battle theme, there comes a sensation that goes beyond that of love for a silly fantasy game. I’d like to think it’s something akin to inspiration.

Conclusion...

In conclusion, Pokemon: Sword and Shield is far from perfect. With a number of faults and disappointments, I can understand why a lot of fans were less than interested in giving this game the time of day. But I also want to say that this game deserves to be understood and appreciate for what it is, for what it’s done. Who knows what sort of new ideas this game has inspired? Whether it be in the name Pokemon game or someone else’s passion project, I am confident in the potential that this game has to bring someone’s dreams to fruition. It already has inspired so much amazing fan-content from the community; after so many years of being away from the fandom, SWSH was the game that drove me right back, giving me the drive to once again indulge in my middle-school days of sketching out my latest comfort character or writing out a million headcanons in a way-too plot-heavy story. Many fan-creators in this community feel the same as me, I’m sure, so it would be untrue of me to say that this game was anything less than what it was: a fun, simple game that prides itself in its characters and potential rather than complex combat mechanics or some corkboard-plot nightmare. It’s a game meant to be enjoyed, so we must remember to find our enjoyment wherever it can be found. For me, Pokemon can’t really do much wrong, but also is held up to a level of expectations that I can’t quite understand even for myself. This, at the end of the day, is a video game from my all-time favorite franchise; so long as I can find enjoyment there in it, then it’s worth it. In a world filled with nihilism and cynicism, it’s nice to visit a land where you’re wise to try and be the very best like no-one ever was, to be the next best Pokemon Master.

[thearkhound]

Shigeru Miyamoto interview from Micom BASIC (February 1989)

The following is translation of a review of Super Mario Bros. 3 written by Akira Yamashita for the February 1989 issue of Micom BASIC Magazine as the 7th entry in his “Serious Play, Sincere Review” (ホンキでPlay, ホンネでReview) series of articles. It contains commentary by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto himself on the development of the game and its design choices. The review was written a few months after the release of Mario 3 and provide a few insights of not only of how game was received in Japan, but also how it compares to other games available in the market at the time thanks to Mr. Yamashita’s tremendous insights.

There’s also a list of recommended 2-players games for the Famicom that I decided to leave out, but I might translate it too and edited into the article at a later date if there’s demand for it.

Profile of Shigeru Miyamoto

Name: Shigeru Miyamoto

D.O.B: November 16, 1952 (Sonobe, Kyoto)

Employed by Nintendo Co., Ltd after graduating from the Kanazawa University of Arts on April 1977. He became involved in game development in 1979, working as a character designer in titles such as Space Fever and Space Firebird. Currently works as manager of Nintendo’s R&D department 2.

Work History

Arcade: Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros.

Famicom (as director & game designer): Hogan’s Alley, Excitebike, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Wild Gunman, Duck Hunt, Devil World, Spartan X [aka Kung-Fu]

Famicom (as producer): The Adventure of Link, Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 3, Shin Onigashima, Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race, Volley Ball, 3D Hot Rally

The Culmination of The Athletic Game Genre

Athletic Game - This is the term that Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo uses to collectively refer to Super Mario-like games. Specifically it refers to games where slightly large characters move around the screen and jumps serve as the basic action.

Indeed. Mr. Miyamoto’s career has been in a cycle. Ever since Donkey Kong, the first time he ever worked as a game designer, it appears he has an inseparable bond with the athletic game genre.

First of all, any game in which almost all the characters are pushed out to the front (including “athletic games”) can be divided in the following sub-categories depending on the objective the player needs to fulfill in order clear a single stage.

A so-called “chase game” where the purpose is to avoid obstacles and enemies while doing a certain task (such as eating all the dots or reaching the exit). Examples include Pac-Man, Mappy and Chuck’n Pop.

A game where the objective is to defeat a set amount of enemies such as Dig Dug or Bubble Bobble.

Donkey Kong, Mr. Miyamoto’s maiden title, clearly belonged to the first category (although it might be a bit misleading to call it a “chase game”, since the enemies and obstacles only move at a regular pace). I remember it felt pretty fresh at the time to play a game made basically about “jumping”.

The objective of the game was changed for the original Mario Bros., which now felt into the second category. In addition to the Jump from Donkey Kong, Mario Bros. introduced “headbutting” as a new method for defeating enemies - This was very groundbreaking. Usually in a second category game, it was expected for the player to shoot bullets or some kind of equivalent. Substituting that with such an unusual method as “headbutting” was the nature, and significance, of the original Mario Bros. When it comes to games that feature unique methods of defeating enemies, it is surprising rare for titles released prior to Mario Bros. The games that suddenly comes to mind are titles such as Heiankyō Alien, where you dig and fill-in holes, and Libble Rabble, which employs a unique method called “bashishi”. [Translator’s note: The “bashishi” refers to the ability to destroy enemies by using a strand tied to two arrows to enclose them.]

And with Super Mario Bros. released for the Famicom [NES], the ingenuity was further expanded. “Stomping” on enemies has been added as a gameplay element in addition to jumping and headbutting, as well as the option for “Fire Mario” in order to satisfy the desires of players who wanted to shoot bullets. When you consider the type, it’s basically a Category 1 game, but it brings up the image of a Category 2 game to the player, creating a brilliant fusion of both types.

“It’s a type of game that is easily approachable for younger inexperienced players, but can also be played by experienced hardcores without getting tired of it. It’s a fun game, even when you’re just watching other people play from the sidelines. That’s the sort of game that I wanted to create.”

Miyamoto explained why he stepped into the so-called “athletic game” genre (which is a label that I don’t mind using). Super Mario Bros. 3, a game which satisfies such conditions, can be said to be the culmination of the genre.

Some of the Virtues of Super Mario 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 was a huge hit that by the end of 1988 there was even a shortage of supply. I think the following aspects should be noted.

Caption: A card-flipping minigame similar to concentration. There are many hidden items such as 1UPs, Starmen, coins. Since there are only eight patterns to the distribution of the cards, it’s not impossible to memorize them and get a perfect.

Caption:

At a first glance it seems like a picture-matching game. You can stop the wheel (?) with the push of a button. If you can memorize the pattern, you can combine the picture into a starman and earn a shocking amount of five extra lives. It’s a perfect aid.

The Spirit of Aiding - Because 1UP mushrooms are plentiful compared to the previous two Mario games, and it’s also easy to get extra lives through minigames such as the picture roulette and concentration, it’s almost hard to get to the Game Over screen. Moreover, I’m glade there are aids that have been employed, such as the technique of picking up consecutive starmen, that take into consideration how well you can play the game comfortably.

The Presentation - Despite being an action game, considerable effort has been put into the game’s presentation in otherwise mundane places. For example, the kings that appear at the end of each world has been transformed into a different animal, in World 4 there levels where you can switch between normal-sized version and a version where all the enemies and environments are larger than usual, and in World 5 there’s a tower that you can climb which takes you to the heavens, where you will find the castle at the end. There’s no limit to the examples I can give. This is a significant improvement over the first two Super Mario games thanks to the increasement of the game’s ROM size. If there is one aspect I think could’ve been improved, was the presentation of the ending could’ve been better.

Scrolling Ideas - It’s rare for a single game to employ various methods of scrolling. There’s free-scrolling with your character, forced-scrolling to the right (and ocassionally diagonally), hi-speed scrolling, ect. The highlights are the flying airships that you enter at the end of each World. Like in Stage 3 of the arcade game R-Type (which also involved moving around a giant airship), you must carefully navigate your character while the stage scrolls through various directions in order to avoid being crush by a wall. While these ideas have been employed by other games in the past, they still deserve merit for the way they’re employed here.

The Music -  I believe the soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. 3 will go down as one of the best in Famicom music’s history. In addition to the sense and atmosphere that makes you feel the uniqueness of each world, what is truly amazing is that they managed to devise a program that makes sound sampling on the Famicom possible. That’s real. Those are the sounds of a real kettledrum and a bassdrum that were recorded through sampling. Following the release of the game, rumors spread that the Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge employed an integrated chip specifically for the sampled sounds, but Mr. Miyamoto clearly denied such a thing.

Caption: The king who appears in the castle at the end of Worlds 1 through 7 are each transformed into a different animal. You might find yourself laughing at the unexpected transformations. By the way, do you know what happens if you clear a World as Frog Mario?

The Peculiar Details and the Difficulty Setting

Caption: The airship from World 8 is said to be one of the most difficult levels in Super Mario 3. Because of its uneven footholds, along with its high-speed scrolling, the results are quite bad. Perhaps you might even need the P-Wings if you can’t clear it normally.

Caption: Among the enemies with individual patterns in the game, Boo has the most unique concept out of all of them. She only approaches gradually while Mario has his back turned on her. Each of these character establishes have good sense in them.

As mentioned above, Super Mario Bros. 3 has several aspects that are a rank higher than other games. However, when you take into account the game as a whole, it could be said that the secret to its popularity lies in how the details were set. The experts at Nintendo have crafted detailed maps, along with enemy characters that exists mainly to raise the quality of the game, that help motivate players.

Of course, you can’t ignore the perfectly exquisite difficulty setting. When I was playing for the first time, there were many stages where I thought “gah, I hope I don’t have to repeat this again!” Yet, strangely enough, most of the levels can actually be cleared without much of an effort. Although, you could say it depends on how you memorize the level designs, it is at that moment that you truly believe that you’re skilled. It is evident that you gain experience from playing Super Mario Bros. 3 and level-up at a very fast-rate.

Once you’ve become truly skilled, that’s when you start pursuing artistry in your play style. On a certain rough spot, could it be possible to clear it elegantly on the quickest time possible? With that in mind, perhaps the best strategy for certain stages is to aim for a non-stop completion. In fact, if you jump while doing the B-dash, it is possible to stomp on a Goomba and such with dead-on timing.

Caption: For example, when you’re on top of the T-shaped pies in World 1-2 if you’re run off with the B-dash and do a large jump with a clack, you can step on a Para-Goomba like this. If you’re confident in your skills, you might want to try challenging your friends over who has the faster completion time in certain stages (although, it might be foolish to try this on a forced-scrolling level). You may also want to record your own nonstop gameplays on video to make your own “Super Mario Bros.3 Perfect Strategy Video”.

Mr. Miyamoto comments on the excess that led to such a strange setting being accepted by players

“I believe the reason why our players have support our games to such an extent is because we do our work with the utmost sincerity. ‘Don’t make the consumers feel like they’re lost - That’s our policy. Also we never try to deviate from our original intent, our original concept, even if a similar game is released before finish ours. If you do that, then it will be inevitable are that your game’s settings and balance will be ruined.”

It was through this interview that I’ve come to the realization that Mr. Miyamoto is truly one of Japan’s leading video game designers with his firm grasp on video game development.

The Greatest Theme: 2-Player Simultaneous Play

Caption: In 2-players mode, if Mario and Luigi enter the same area, the original Mario Bros. will somehow begin play (this is no hoax). You can understand the importance that Mr. Miyamoto is placed on 2-players gameplay.

“The biggest theme of Super Mario Bros. 3 was making a game that was fun for 2 people to play”

I was a bit surprised by Mr. Miyamoto’s statement. I was aware that Super Mario Bros. 3 has a mode where two players take turns between Mario and Luigi. For example, if Mario completes World 1-1, then it’s Luigi’s turn to play World 1-2, which feels a bit odd at first. I’ve never paid much attention to this mode until Mr. Miyamoto mentioned it. What was his purpose for adding such a mode? The following is his answer.

“In Super Mario Bros. 3, I wanted to give players a ‘field where two people can play together’. For example, you can have a skilled play help out his unskilled sister proceed through the game through cooperation, or have a pair of friends compete to see who gets the highest score. Therefore, when playing in 2-players mode, I would be glad if they approach it like a board game and use the whistles to instantly access any of the 8 worlds they like.”

This could indeed be said to be a challenge to create a new 2-players game for Miyamoto, who made one of the biggest 2-players game ever, the original Mario Bros. However, Miyamoto himself was not satisfied with the 2-players play of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Perhaps there are readers who are thinking “Why don’t they just put Mario and Luigi on-screen in Super Mario Bros. at the same time? That’s such a brilliant idea! Maybe I should become a game designer”, but such an idea is short-sighted. Just having Mario and Luigi on-screen at the same time wouldn’t be viable. To be precise, it’s not impossible, but the quality of the game would suffer.

Figure 1: A situation in 2-players co-op

Let met get into the specifics. Let’s supposed there’s a version of Super Mario Bros. where two players can play simultaneously. Now, consider the situation shown in Figure 1. Mario will naturally try to avoid the Venus Fire Trap by moving towards the right (the direction of the scrolling), but he can’t because Luigi is on the other end of the screen. As a result, a tragedy will occur and Mario will be struck by fire. There’s also the problem that Mario cannot see the enemies that will appear ahead of him since he’s too close to the edge of the screen. In terms of the situation described above, it’s almost impossible to play Super Mario Bros. with two players at the same time, unless forced-scrolling is employed.

Caption: This is Alien Syndrome, an arcade game by Sega. The gruesomeness of the monsters was nice, but during 2-players mode, I was also concerned on where to scroll as well.

With that said, there has been plenty of free-scrolling multiplayer games in the past ,especially arcade games. Titles such as Alien Syndrome, Ikari Warriors and its sequels, Rock ‘n Rage, Dark Adventure, Quartet, and many more. Anyone who has played this game with partner has likely experienced the frustration of screaming while seeing their character died on-screen because the screen wasn’t scrolling like it should. It can be asserted that these types of multiplayer games are absolutely unreasonable systematically. Multiplayer games are only possible either, with a fixed screen or with auto-scrolling - that’s my theory.

Caption: Although it was an early Famicom games, Devil World must be seen for its scrolling ideas. When I was told this was a Shigeru Miyamoto game, I was pretty convinced.

On a side-note, one 2-players game that impressed me with its scrolling was Devil World, a previous game by none other than Mr. Miyamoto himself. This was a game where the direction of the auto-scrolling changes as indicated by the devil at the top of the screen. Although one of the game’s flaws is that the logic behind the scrolling couldn’t be understood during a 2-players game, the concept of an auto-scrolling game that changes direction is still impressive even in this age.

What’s Next For Nintendo’s Top Designer?

Usually this would be part where I would mention the aspects of the game in which I was unsatisfied with and come up with suggestions on how to improve them, but unfortunately (or not).

If I may mention a few things, perhaps the game might be too difficult to players who have never played the previous Mario games or the game might take too many hours to complete if you intend on completing it without using warp zones. With that said, it’s a pretty good game when you consider that those are the only flaws I could think of. 

Is Mr. Miyamoto, who served as producer of this super game, going to continue making games like this? This is a question that is of the interest of many videogame fans. At the end of this interview, while the answer was a bit abstract, I was still able to get it from him .

“I have been in charge of game direction until now. Of course, I will continue doing so in the future, but when the time is right, I would also like to work on planning out a gameplay system too.”

System planning - While Mr. Miyamoto said this quite bluntly, he seems to have considerable preparedness for it. The fact that most recent games don’t have their gameplay systems designed for them, but rather they simply rearrange existing systems, is a situation that Mr. Miyamoto himself is coming to grasp, even though most players can’t imagined it from their standpoint.

What kind of gameplay system is Mr. Miyamoto thinking of? I’ve asked him for the specifics.

“There are many talented creators involved in other industries such as novel authors and filmmakers. Now if only someone would create a system, or perhaps a field, in which such people could get involved in game development with ease... My dream is to create a point of contact for creators active in fields other than video game development.”

In our current situation, it’s pretty difficult to create an interesting game if you don’t already know anything about videogames to some extent. But perhaps, with some kind of tool or aid, we will see infinite possibilities in the game industry that we’ve ever seen before.

Mr. Miyamoto brought up an RPG that is being developed by Nintendo with the cooperation of writer Mr. Shigesato Itoi, best known for his coverage of Namco’s Family Stadium baseball video game “Please look forward to it” remarks Mr. Miyamoto. [TL’s note: Of course, that RPG would be none other than the original MOTHER, which Mr. Yamashita himself would review in a later issue.]

1989 will be an intense year, not just for the Super Famicom, but Nintendo’s software development department in general. [TL’s note: At the time, the Super Famicom was expected to be released in 1989 in Japan, but it was ultimately delayed to 1990.]

Miyamoto’s History of Athletic Games

Donkey Kong (June 1981, Arcade) - The originator of the athletic game genre, as well as the first game Miyamoto was involved as a game designer. Despite the fixed screen format and simple controls that consists of a joystick for moving and a jump button, the game was rich in its variety that it showed. Perhaps it might had been the first game to ever have a jump button, but I can’t say for sure.

Donkey Kong Jr. (July 1982, Arcade) - The sequel to Donkey Kong featured a bold setting in which the roles of the protagonist and antagonist from the previous game were switched. While the gameplay system remained largely unchanged, the switch to a larger protagonist brought on many new ideas. This has been the only game to ever feature Mario as antagonist.

Mario Bros. (April 1983, Arcade) - A game that brought-in 2-players co-op to the gameplay cultivated by Donkey Kong. Both players can proceed throughout the stages in various ways, whether it is by cooperating with each other or by pulling each others’ legs trying to kill each other. It is considered to be one of the greatest 2-players simultaneous game in history.

Super Mario Bros. (September 1985, Famicom) - The game that served as the turning point for the athletic game genre, expanding from a fixed screen to side-scrolling. It would go on to become the biggest hit game for the Famicom, becoming a huge influence to the industry along with Dragon Quest.

Super Mario Bros. 2 [Japanese version] (June 1986, Famicom Disk) -  A sequel known for its hellish difficulty, it was aimed specifically at players who mastered the first game. The game is filled with many situations in which the levels can only be cleared using advanced techniques. With that said, the gameplay system was almost unchanged from the original. There were many people who bought the Disk System add-on just for this game.

Yume Kojō: Doki Doki Panic (July 1987, Famicom Disk) - A game produced in cooperation with the Fuji TV’s event Yume Kōjō. While the game wasn’t much of a success, many of its ideas would go on to inspire Super Mario Bros. 3. In fact, a graphically modified version was released for the NES in North America as its version of Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario Bros. 3 (October 1988, Famicom) - The third installment of the Super Mario series was developed with the idea of rearranging the original with a much larger ROM size. In addition to the high degree of completeness, we cannot overlook the amount of new ideas that were enthusiastically inserted into the game. The hard work that has put into the game can be felt by its presentation.

Super Mario Bros. 4 (working title) - Scheduled to be released this October as one of the launch titles for the Super Famicom. [TL’s note: The Super Famicom wouldn’t be released in Japan until 1990] Our curiousity over the kind of Super Mario game that this new machine will be capable of is endless. One can only expect as much from Mr. Miyamoto’s skills as a producer.

[superchartisland]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega, Mega Drive, 1992)

The chart commentary in the September 1991 issue of Computer & Video Games noted astonishment at Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog, a console game, placing as high as #11 in the UK all formats sales chart. Sonic’s impact didn’t immediately show up on the charts beyond that, but by the start of 1995, games on consoles would make up more than 50% of the UK’s market, and the Sega Mega Drive console would be the clear leader. This fits with personal anecdata -- between my brother and me we had four friends with Mega Drives and not one with a SNES, Nintendo’s rival console. Every one of those friends played Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. I can remember the attention around the release of Sonic 2 as greater than any other game back then, ‘Sonic 2sday’ and all, and I didn’t even have a console. Looking back, the whole idea of Sonic 2sday -- a unified international release date (on, obviously, a Tuesday) -- was a telling detail.

The UK was unusual in the Sega Mega Drive (or, as Americans like to call it, the ‘Sega Genesis’) being the clear market leader rather than Nintendo’s SNES, and the reasons go back into the ‘80s. Nintendo’s Famicom/NES console was utterly dominant in Japan, as my looks at the chart #1s there have shown, and in the US it famously saved the whole video games industry after the American Video Game Crash of 1983 (or, as Americans like to call it, the ‘Video Game Crash of 1983’). As I explained back in my post on Ghosts’n’Goblins, we were in the middle of a boom time for home computer games, and Nintendo didn’t have anything like the same impact in the UK. They frequently could barely be bothered with us at all, although the order of cause and effect there is not 100% clear. Most likely it was a self-reinforcing cycle. Without such a base elsewhere to fall back on, Sega put in a lot more effort. The release dates in different countries of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nintendo’s archetypal mascot rival Super Mario World, both playable on their snazzy new 16-bit consoles, tell their own story:

In Japan, Sonic was definitely taking on the incumbent. In the US, he got in first in this particular battle, but Mario was so popular from before it didn’t matter too much. In the UK, that wasn’t the case and by the time the SNES and Super Mario World came out, Sonic was well-established and Sonic 2 was just around the corner. Sega weren’t going to rescue the British games industry, because it still didn’t need rescuing, but like Sonic’s new flying fox sidekick Tails in Sonic 2, they would give it some lifts into different directions.

Like the last massively influential Sega game in our story, OutRun, Sonic was made with America and Europe in mind, but in this case it wasn’t as a location but as an audience. Sonic was a hybrid creation with input from Sega of America alongside Sega of Japan, and turned out to be perfect for Britain as well. With Sega having their own console for Sonic to be on, there wasn’t any question of playing inferior home versions, or at least not ones that were actually Sonic. At that time Sega in Japan gave the American and European branches of Sega pretty much free rein in marketing, which meant being able to run more easily with things that they thought might work better here (Ayrton Senna and his Sonic trophy at the Sega European Grand Prix, crude sexist adverts in Viz, and all). A year on from Sonic 2, we got our own British fortnightly Sonic the Comic which ran until 2002, and which my brother and a couple of the previously mentioned Sonic-playing friends were regular readers of. I was never as big a fan of Sonic as of Mario, but as a Brit the hedgehog felt more like ours. For many British people, like for me, Sonic the Hedgehog got to be the powerful introduction to console games.

This was the series that got to represent the advantages of having specialised hardware designed solely for playing games. Further than that, the advantage of the same people designing both the hardware and the games to run on it. Sonic didn’t represent a complete revolution of unrecognisable possibilities, but it was obvious that it was a new way of doing things and a different type of experience. That experience wasn’t the one single console experience, or one single console platform game experience, either. Mario is often about the intricate hidden possibilities that players can work out and open up within its world, but Sonic’s design philosophy, designed in opposition, places its intricate possibilities right at the surface and gives players little choice but to see them in action. Which is not to say it’s a shallower approach -- Sonic has its own hidden secrets and multiple routes anyway -- but certainly a different one. And Sonic 2 is an iteration further on the Sonic design philosophy than the original. Its colour-saturated world, and its array of toys and gimmicks to fast-forward Sonic around that world, are even more built up. It adds a rapidly charging spin-dash move so Sonic doesn’t have to rely on momentum to keep speed up, increasing the ratio of action to pause still further.

Sonic 2 has the Chemical Plant Zone, a marvel of criss-crossing accelerated paths that eschews any kind of straightforward left-right movement in favour of tying itself up into spatial knots and letting the player enjoy how they eventually get untied. It has the Casino Night Zone, the zenith of the entire concept of Sonic: platform game as literal pinball (with slot machines thrown in), with cities full of lights shimmering deliciously in the background, music of the most assured cool playing while vivid sound effects maintain a constant level of stimulation. It’s a place to drink everything in and forget the passage of time completely, just like they encourage you to in real casinos. It has so much more, more Zones, more everything. Sonic 2 is not flat out the best game I’ve covered so far, because different games do very different things and I prefer some of them, but Sonic 2 is a pretty much unbeatable at what it does. You only have to look at Zool again to see that trying to go toe-to-toe with Sonic 2 on a home computer was a laughably doomed venture.

In the UK, Sonic was the champion trailblazer and the one to match up to, and it’s only now that it’s It’s funny to think how much of that might have been a matter of release timing. But hey, you know what they say - gotta go fast!

There is, in fact, something ironic in Sonic being so successful here despite his famous speed being handicapped. Due to technical TV format issues, Mega Drive games, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2 alike, run at five-sixths speed on British consoles. For Sonic 2, Sega fixed the music alone to run at the correct speed, which is sort of a shame. I probably only prefer the slower version of Masato Nakamura’s incredible Green Hill Zone music in the original game because I’m used to it, but it remains brilliantly sparkling at either speed and when slowed down also gains a glorious otherworldly sheen. In a similar way, the slightly off speed boosts the haunting weirdness of Sonic the Hedgehog’s hallucinogenic bonus levels to a potency that Sega probably couldn’t have deliberately created if they’d tried. In Sonic 2, the bonus levels are replaced by showy 3D racing things and lack the same effect. Even still, the fact that in the UK we were literally playing different versions of the games is one more strange way in which they got to be ours.

Virgin all console formats chart, Teletext, 10 January 1993. 

[See also this Gamesradar article confirming that it was #1 at Christmas 1992 in what was presumably the Gallup equivalent. I’m taking a leap based on remembered hype to assuming that it was overall #1 immediately after its release in November 1992]

[screwloosestudios]

THE CAPPY CONNECTION

Ever since Super Mario Sunshine, Mario has been aided on his quests by a library of fairies, pixies and spirits who follow him through the adventure and lend their power to him. I believe that Cappy is the greatest of these characters, and here's why.

MAJOR MECHANIC

Since these types of characters only appear in 3D adventure games and RPGs, the first of its kind was FLUDD who served as the central play mechanic in Super Mario Sunshine. The whole thing was about spraying water on people and things so the water backpack was integral to the game. Then, in Super Mario Galaxy we were introduced to the Lumas and with it, Little Luma who accompanied Mario and bestowed upon him the spin attack ability, the core technique of both Galaxy games. You might easily overlook the Luma helper because he isn't really personified much and doesn't speak, but he does show up as part of a cooldown animation that indicates when the spin attack can be used again, so he is omnipresent. FLUDD however, is personified and will interject the action every now and then with tutorial dialogue and exposition. This type of chatty character went on to become a bit of a staple of Mario games... TALKING TUTOR RPGs are traditionally text heavy games and since Mario is generally a silent protagonist it's only natural to expect the characters around him to be the ones who flesh out the story and offer tips and advice. But the early RPGs didn't need this type of character since they were more traditional of the genre and it was the other party members in Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario 1 & 2 that offered this function, but they don't really qualify as this type of character. Eventually in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time we were introduced to Stuffwell who not only served as an adviser but also the brothers' inventory. A nifty little role, but not really necessary since other RPGs include an invisible inventory that doesn't require further explanation (indeed, the first Mario & Luigi game even had a non-sentient suitcase which served the same function.) By the third Mario & Luigi game we got Starlow who went on to be a regular in the series, appearing in the two following games and basically serving as a mouthpiece for the brothers, interacting with other characters on their behalf. Meanwhile, Super Paper Mario introduced us to Tippi whose ability to recall information on all sorts of enemies and environments was more of a holdover from the previous games where various Goomba characters offered the same service. She could also help out by finding hidden secrets but was perhaps most notable for having her own detailed backstory and a significant character arc throughout the game. Since she fulfilled her destiny and left at the end of that game, the next Paper Mario: Sticker Star brought with it a new face - Kersti whose name is a lot cleverer than her design. I stopped playing Paper Mario games at this point so I can't talk about her with authority but I understand she basically serves as the same info sprite while offering a couple of field abilities and some sort of significance in the final battle. The same can also be said of Huey in Paper Mario: Color Splash - at this point the exposition characters take on forms relevant to the game's theme. Then there's Beep-0 from Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. A different type of game entirely but relevant to this discussion since he tells you everything that's going on in the game and, as one of the very few characters who actually talks, attempts to carry the game's humour all by himself. Beep-0 is also special though, since he can actually be controlled. In fact, he is the only character you can control in this game. Technically Mario and friends all follow behind him and move to wherever he indicates during battle. But the concept of playable exposition elves is not completely unique... PLAYABLE PARTNER Looping back around to Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Co-Star Luma is introduced - a completely independent character who can be controlled by a second player. Well, not completely independent, it simply follows Mario around but will deviate from this path when Player 2's cursor is used to collect items and impede enemies. Technically this is no different from the second player cursor in the first Galaxy game but was given its own identity. CAPPY You've probably already deduced how Cappy fits into this by now: he embodies all of these features, and more! The cap throwing and capture mechanics are the entire backbone of Super Mario Odyssey and very versatile at that. Cappy himself will pop up now and then with hints on what to do next and exposition about how the plot is unfolding. He can also be controlled by a second player, and in a much more direct way than the previous examples. But there's more! Cappy is also special for having his own story and more specifically his own motivation. I think Tippi is on par for actually having a plot specific role (though if I'd have tried to cram another circle in here to reflect that it would have been ugly and frustrating) but Cappy is actually embarking on his own adventure at the same time as Mario!. His sister is kidnapped alongside Peach and he wants to rescue her too. This isn't just a creature from beyond who offers to accompany you for the greater good, you visit his home and hear his story and in this game Cappy seems to be treated as more than just a voice in your head, he's treated as a friend. There are two seats in the Odyssey and while Mario's silent nature makes it hard for him to really interact with Cappy, you do see the two chatting and relaxing between worlds. BIAS He's also an Englishman analogue with a hat theme, so that's why I love him. I think it would be hard for Cappy to show up again if a future game didn't include the cap mechanic, though spin-offs are fair game, but I do hope he sticks around and takes on a greater significance in the Mario series - I think he deserves it.

[videogame1up]

My top Wii U games

The Wii u is a very interesting console, it's a console that I feel time will not look fondly on. Especially when compared to the Switch, but for its time it had some great games, here are my favorites

Tokyo Mirage sessions-

It's not quite Fire Emblem, and it's not quite shin megami tensei, but it's a lot of fun. Being a bit of a hidden gem on the console not many people got to experience this game. And I'm not sure exactly how to describe it, other than it's a flashy bright fun RPG that you won't regret playing.

Super Mario 3D world

This is one of those must have Wii U titles. Complaints I've heard is its just a bigger Mario 3D land. Which, isn't true. Even if it was, that game was solid too. This game doesn't re-energize the series in the same way Mario Odyssey has, but for the time this was a really great and fun Mario adventure. Also how can you not love cat Mario?

Mario Kart 8-

Mario Kart 8 was the first Mario Kart in HD and also the first to get some really amazing DLC (love that Animal crossing track) the gameplay was improved upon from past entries to make, In my opinion, the most fluid feeling Mario Kart up to date. Online was always a blast, and I can't speak for everyone but I never once had a problem with it. If you had a wii u, you probably owned this game and for good reason

Super Smash Bros-

I know the Internet loves to hate on this game, and true after playing Ultimate it's hard to want to go back to this game, but for a time this was the best smash bros. Largest number of stages, characters, trophies, music, onli...well that wasn't great. But still, I spent more hours that I would like to admit into this game and have so many fond memories of playing with friends.

Splatoon-

I bought this game on a whim when I saw it on sale, and even then I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it. I'm glad I did purchase this, as it became one of my favorite (well obviously) games on the wii u. A game I wasn't expecting to really get into, I spent night after night playing. Being stuck at work all day wishing I could play, and much like Mario Kart 8 the online experience for this title was always a smooth one.

Mario Maker-

This is sort of a sad entry on this list. Mario Maker was easily one of the best things to come out of the wii u. It utilized the wii u game pad better than any other game on the system. Making levels was easy and always fun, it was great making an evil level and watching your friends fail. It was fun experimenting with new hazards and enemies. This was a game that let your imagination and creativity run wild. You were in charge. You had complete control over your level. Mario maker Is sadly the only game left on the Wii U that really keeps me going back. Which prompted this list in the first place. Mario maker 2 comes out later this year and looks to improve on this game. It will be so easy to write the wii u off in the future, but it's important to remember, it's actually had a really great library. Even if most of It has made its way to the switch. Which brings me to number 1

Breath of the Wild

Not only is this by far the best Wii U game, it's one of the greatest games of all time. It had some flaws, but it did so much right that it doesn't take away from how amazing this game is. Say what you will about the Wii U. Even if this game is on the switch, you can still play one of the greatest video games of all time on this old dusty console.

[afreakingdork]

Review: Super Mario Odyssey

“Use amazing new abilities—like the power to capture and control objects, animals, and enemies—to collect Power Moons so you can power up the Odyssey airship and save Princess Peach from Bowser's wedding plans!

Thanks to heroic, hat-shaped Cappy, Mario's got new moves that'll make you rethink his traditional run-and-jump gameplay—like cap jump, cap throw, and capture. Use captured cohorts such as enemies, objects, and animals to progress through the game and uncover loads of hidden collectibles. And if you feel like playing with a friend, just pass them a Joy-Con™ controller! Player 1 controls Mario while Player 2 controls Cappy. This sandbox-style 3D Mario adventure—the first since 1996's beloved Super Mario 64™ and 2002's Nintendo GameCube™ classic Super Mario Sunshine™—is packed with secrets and surprises, plus exciting new kingdoms to explore.“

I adore this game, it was an incredible ride that I would not trade for anything, I definitely see myself coming back to play this years down the road like I did with Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, and Super Mario Sunshine.. Though there definitely were a few things I would change, let’s save that for... 

Criticism: 

I wish there was a little more build-up on Cappy. He kind of just is automatically you're new best friend. I get that he understands and teams up with you to save his sister, but he just instantly loves Mario and would do anything for him. Even in Paper Mario you had to slowly gain your partners trust even while using them to the fullest extent of their abilities.

According to the Cascade Kingdom guide, fucking Mario knocked over a piece of rock that has been standing for EONS!!

Why are 99% of the Lochladys racist against Cheep Cheeps. I get they are Mario's enemy but why don't the two of them coexist. I highly doubt the Cheep Cheeps ever attack them. They seem to swim peacefully, but if you capture one, the Lochladys tremble and tell you to go away!

I think it's very strange that the warp paintings for those special moons in each level unlock so early in the game. Even if you can't access the rest of that new world yet, it feels so wrong and kind of spoiler-y to be able to reach levels that you haven't seen or even heard of yet....

I have two HUGE issues with Shiveria: 1. The snow physics are worse than Minecraft sand physics and for a huge Nintendo console launch title that is garbage. 2. The penguins don't make the same crying noise as in 64. 2 is obviously a much more grievous misstep.

Yo who seriously wanted to bring back the action that Mario has to run like a maniac when he burns his butt from Lethal Lava Land in 64. Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.

I am offended by the Cookatiel. Very poor bad representation of a cockatiel.

It hurts me so that just a few power moons takes my beautiful Odyssey (the ship), that has been crashed in the Cascade Kingdom for who knows how long, from a pile of wreckage to perfect, but then Bowser knocks it out of the sky one time and I have to play with it damaged and ugly for what is essentially the rest of the regular game! Why didn't the big gash heal when I repaired the ship the second time with more moons!?

I am really upset that there is no power moon for turning all the lights on with Cappy in Bonneton.

SCREW CAPTAIN TOAD

HE CAN’T EVEN JUMP, THERE IS NO WAY HE COULD BE WHERE HE IS. DON’T TEASE ME NINTENDO YOU KNOW THAT TOO. META GAME MY BUTT. 

An old Mario probelm: the camera is fucking infuriating. Obviously not as bad as other games (I am looking at you 64). Also the motion controls seem to have been brought back from the Wii-era as they are dodgy and unresponsive. It drives me crazy when I do the perfect motion and the wrong action happens. Useless waste of coins.

I think my least favorite world is the Seaside Kingdom. Not only is it just boring and forgettable to me, but it also just feels like a really poor rip-off of Gelato Beach. So much so that when he landed, I genuinely mistook the swirls of the Bubblainians for the bulls-eye-like eyes of the Cataquack's and got really excited that the game had brought them back.

Speaking of which, I wish there had just been like one X-Naut or a reference to the X-Nauts’ moonbase in Honeylune Ridge. They never really explain why rabbits are on the moon either... Are rabbits an ancient alien species? Not even the helpful travel brochures help you find out.

Positives: 

I adore that it takes all the best parts of Seven Stars, 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and 3D World! I had flashbacks to the spinning flowers that raise you up from Seven Stars. A smile burst so wide on my partners face when he realized there was a full replica of the Mushroom Kingdom from 64. Cleaning up the goo from Poison Piranha Plants brings me right back to sitting in my bedroom playing Sunshine. The worlds and collecting moons feel right out of Galaxy and the level builds are just like 3D World but better and more open world-like. These are of course just a few notes and there are a million more references. I could go on and on!

Bonneton is totally my aesthetic. 

I love the Bonneters. I think they are my favorite new race in the game. I espcially love the Crazy Cap worker one, she is my sweetie! 

I have to say that my favorite kingdom is probably the Sand Kingdom, I have a special place in my heart for desert levels~<3

I love reading the travel brochures, there is so much love put into this game and you can really feel it.

My favorite outfit in the game is hands down: 

There is an ASMR satisfaction to doing the zippers in the Lake Kingdom.

The Bowser Kingdom's industry is Hanafuda cards, just like Nintendo's main product when they started, I will cry. The love that went into this game....

Uh seriously can you tell me where I can get my own travel stickers from all the kingdoms and the posters from the Mount Volbono Stew Fest:

This game is infinitely gorgeous... It took my breath away several times.. 

I also adore the incentives you get, not that I needed money to finish my conversation with the Sphynx, I adore him. It was just really mind blowing to see that stack of cash after you take all his quizzes. 

Verdict: 

Little story, it may not have been my first Mario game (probably, I don’t have a good memory) but I remember very clearly how much I wanted Paper Mario. It was something that I just knew I had to have. I asked my mom for it for my birthday or Christmas, who knows at this point. She said it might not be in the cards but we’ll see. I obviously ended up getting it and I was so happy when I got it that I almost cried. I named my save file ‘Thank You’ because I just needed something to channel how much joy was in my heart. Since that day I name all my Mario save files thank you. When I saw this light up at the end of the game happy tears truly streamed down my face. All those years, all those thank yous.... Thank you, Nintendo... 

[chakytron]

How 3 Hidden 1-Ups Eluded Players for Years in Super Mario 3D World

How 3 Hidden 1-Ups Eluded Players for Years in Super Mario 3D World

How 3 Hidden 1-Ups Eluded Players for Years in Super Mario 3D World Category Main Description: Play Skyforge on Nintendo Switch! ▻ https://wehy.pe/t/306/wehypeit A huge thanks to Skyforge for sponsoring this video! Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury … TopTrengingTV Hunting the most trend video of the moment, every hour every day 24/7. Youtube Video Data Published At: 2021-01-31T17:15:03Z…

[bahamutgreen]

A hyper analysis of the Mario Stages in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Hey I took the liberty of spending too much time of my life going through some of the Mario stages in Ultimate to find pretty scenes and interesting secrets. I go through each stage one by one in this MASSIVE text post so it’s all hidden under this readmore link! Enjoy the post if you have the time and energy to read it all, haha!!

Super Smash Bros. 64 (2 stages)

Peach’s Castle

As one might expect, the Smash 64 stages don’t have too much to talk about. But I tried to find as much as I could! For starters, here’s a very pretty scenic shot of the background, which is a bird’s eye view of the starting area in Super Mario 64.

Secondly, there are these trees, which are taken directly from Super Mario 64 smushed down a little bit, and had the colors desaturated a bit.

And, just for fun: This isn’t the first time this tree appears on the Nintendo Switch, as this same tree sprite was used in the recreation of the courtyard in Odyssey!

Mushroom Kingdom

Again, not much to talk about but hey here’s something everyone already knows: You can see the blast zones in this stage. I believe this is actually in each iteration of this stage (64, Melee, Ultimate) I also think the fake 2D pipe is a little interesting to look at. It doesn’t blend in very well but it’s cute.

You can also get a glimpse of how far down the vines and mushrooms go

And lastly, here’s a picture of the cute Buzzy Beetle on a spring. Rumor has it that this was added in by a developer without permission in the N64 version? I don’t know if that’s true but it’s a neat story. Also, Buzzy Beetles don’t usually appear above ground, so there’s some trivia for you

Super Smash Bros. Melee (4 Stages)

Princess Peach’s Castle

This is the first stage to get an HD remaster! Look at the beautiful recreation of the Peach Mural in front of the castle!

You can also see the bridge over Peach’s Moat, which I don’t think you could see before

Also, this isn’t intentional and is surely a coincidence but if you clip under Peach’s castle, it looks like there’s a hole in the water which is almost what it looks like if you clip under Peach’s Castle in Super Mario Odyssey.

Lastly, here’s a nice scenic shot of the waterfall behind the castle

Rainbow Cruise

So, this stage opens up with a really beautiful scenic shot. And to the left of the lake, you can see a little town! This was also in the original Melee version of this stage.

Interestingly, if you move the camera you can see that the whole stage is already loaded while you’re on the airship, and the airship is actually stationary.

Yoshi’s Island

OKAY this is a Yoshi Stage cause it’s based on Dinosaur Land but it comes from Super Mario World which is a Mario game so I’m putting it here.

The walk off part of the level actually has grass on it

And the level has been updated to have cute New Super Mario Bros. flowers!

And this stage has cute 2 paintings of the Sprites from Super Mario World AND a shot of nice HD Yoshi Fruit. These fruits have a much more berry or persimmon look in modern Mario titles but the apple look isn’t too far off.

Mushroom Kingdom II

A sequel to the first Mushroom Kingdom Stage, this doesn’t have a lot to talk about either but there is some stuff! It looks very pretty with the All-Stars sprites

And if you look, the tops of the platforms are just a very... neat looking solid green color

And you can even get a peek at where the stage’s background cuts off!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (4 stages)

Delfino Plaza

My favorite Smash Bros. Stage ever! I love all the detail put into this stage, particularly all the stages you can see from the plaza itself. Like Ricco Harbor and Bianco Hills

Pinna Park and Sirena Beach

And even the Airstrip!

There’s also tons of cute details in the Plaza, like the manhole covers and the overhang that contains the Pachinko stage!

Even the open windows have been updated to have fully rendered rooms inside them! Although the camera can’t zoom in very far to see them.

And here’s a fun glitch, you can clip the camera underwater just like clipping Mario under the water in the original Sunshine!

Also I noticed that the fire from Mario’s Final Smash leaves a special burning effect behind when it touches grass

Mushroomy Kingdom

The spinoff to Mushroom Kingdoms I&II, it has a TON of fantastic visual detail. Being a realistic, worn down reimagining of the original 1-1

You’ll notice in the last one that the pipes have covers on them, so you can’t enter them. The castle itself also has a fantastic visual wear and tear

Here’s a cute detail! 6 blocks away from this pipe is a hidden box. Just like the original Super Mario Bros.! In the original game it had a hidden 1-up inside!

Also here’s a nice shot I got of Mario grabbing the flag pole!

Figure-8 Circuit

Most people already know this but you can almost see the full track just out of reach of the screen

You might notice a cute garage and even stands for the audience! However, the stands are filled with humans instead of Mario characters. I think they’re recycled from the Punch Out arena stage. But there’s a screen that keeps track of where the Shyguys are in real time! Neat!

Speaking of which, here’s a close up on the Shyguys. They use the Standard SG Kart just as they would when playing multiplayer mode with 1 cartridge in Mario Kart DS. Which is where Figure-8 Circuit comes from, of course.

Lastly, one of my favorite details in this track is it’s use of Mario aesthetics and platforms as set pieces to build the environment. You can see large mushrooms, hills, checkered floors, and the block platforms seen in Mario Bros. 3!

Luigi’s Mansion

A really nice detail in this stage is that all the rooms you can see are actual rooms from Luigi’s Mansion! In order, left to right, top then bottom, the rooms are: Nursery, Foyer (1F), Study, Kitchen, Foyer, Ballroom.

And by stepping out of the Mansion you get a good look at the front!

But don’t worry, you can still see the cross section if you turn the camera

Some other cute details include the well where you first see Mario’s fate in Luigi’s Mansion, there’s a lot of tombstones around the mansion which take designs from Luigi’s Mansion’s graveyard. And even the chimneys at the top of the mansion are right where they should be!

And lastly here’s some of the Boos that spawn when you destroy chunks of the mansion

Mario Bros.

I only have one thing to talk about with this stage, and it’s that the POW Block has a strange amount of detail to it. It’s updated with this cool, cybernetic design.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (3 Stages)

3D Land

This stage is GORGEOUS, in my opinion. Here’s some good shots that show the detail of blocks, flip panels, Peach’s castle, and spike pillars, all with their 3D Land designs

You can also see a little visual thing where this mountain isn’t exactly in the water

An interesting developer trick is that when you go into the pipe to restart the stage, tilting the camera will show you that almost the whole stage unloads around you

And now... Here’s just a ton of really pretty scenic shots I got from this level. I just think it’s a really nice looking stage. It also does a good job of incorporation Mario elements and platforms into the environments.

okay I’m done sorry

Golden Plains

Some really nice recreations of Mario props in this stage. Here’s the 3 types of coins that appear in the stage, Gold, Red, and Blue. Gold/Blue count as 1 and Red counts as 5.

The little sign at the bottom appears when the stage starts scrolling. Also here’s some other Mario set pieces.

Also this stage isn’t as pretty as 3D Land, it does have some nice background shots

And here’s a screenshot of the stage gimmick, getting 100 coins will turn you into a gold version of your fighter!

Paper Mario

this is another stunning stage to look at. The detail in the paper and crafts are so amazing. 

In the first area, based on Hither Thither Hill, if you look to the side the walk off part of the stage actually has the same walk off between areas that Paper Mario games have!!

Here’s a close up of the fan

The 2nd area, based on the S.S. Flavion, has a super cute references to the reoccuring Big Blooper bosses in Paper Mario and the Whale from Paper Mario 64

The 3rd area, based on Bowser’s Castle in Sticker Star, is just pretty. And when the stage transitions back to the 1st area it actually closes like a story book, how cute!!

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U (4 Stages)

Mushroom Kingdom U

A really underrated stage in my opinion. This is the most recent entry in the Mushroom Kingdom series of stages, based on the New Super Mario Bros. series this time. The first area, based on Acorn Plains, has some very cute environments in it.

You can even see trees containing Super Acorns, which naturally grow in this area! The 2nd area is based on the Meringue Clouds world. It’s so pretty and I even got a shot of the icicles that fall periodically through this stage. Sadly I couldn’t get the beanstalk to spawn? Maybe it’s not in Ultimate’s version of the stage. But I don’t know.

The next area is based on the games’ fortress stages! It has REALLY complex machinery for the center platforms, and you can even move the camera to see down the tower. It’s a LONG drop. I also got close ups of the multiplying blocks

The final area is based on Sparkling Waters and Rock-Candy Mines. It has pretty backdrops and sea urchins!

Lastly, some nice pictures of Kamek!

And Nabbit! Who, interestingly, has a visual glitch on his bag. The top of the Mushroom emblem is incorrectly doubled right underneath it.

Mario Galaxy

Another super pretty stage. It has gorgeous set pieces

Here’s a closeup of Starship Mario and one of Bowser’s airships. Starship Mario has Lubba, the Lumas, and all the trimmings. The airship doesn’t seem to have many crew members, though.

And here’s a closeup of a falling starbit

Mario Circuit

This, like Figure-8 Circuit, is a recreation of Mario Kart 8′s Mario Circuit. It has all the same details (minus an audience to watch)

Also, some of the towers you land on have staircases that go a lot further than you’d think

And lastly, here’s a close up of the shyguy racers. They’re now decked out with the Standard Kart design from Mario Kart 8. If you look closely, the Shyguy’s clothes are also far more detailed than the Shyguys in Figure-8 Circuit.

Super Mario Maker

This is a neat stage because it can shift artstyles mid battle. Here’s a picture of the 4 art styles: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U!

I also got some shots of the hands that will appear to fix parts of the stage you break during combat! I’m sure there’s more hands but we do have human hands, animal hands, and Mario hands!

Mario also has a cute Mario Maker alt. to go along perfectly with this stage!

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (1 Stage)

New Donk City Hall

We finally made it! Here’s the end of this massive, way too long post! Here’s some nice shots of the city, a shot of the park, and I even tried getting most of the sky scraper in one shot

Here’s some nice shots of the Odyssey! You’ll notice it has 21 Power Moons, as the official art for the Odyssey has. But it actually takes 55 Power Moons to reach the Metro Kingdom.

Some bonus stuff: A lightbulb, the New Donk City players (plus poster), and even a shot that shows how much of New Donk City was rendered.

And look! It’s Captain Toad!!! I love this fella so much!

His arm looks very weird and long when he puts it in front of his face. But you wouldn’t notice that during normal gameplay anyway

And now... I have no other way of saying this. I have a million shots of Pauline. She’s so gorgeous. I love her so much.

A really nice detail about this is that we get a good shot of Pauline’s back! You don’t get a good look in Odyssey because when you get to her during the festival the camera is locked.

AAAAAAND that’s it! That’s all the little snacks and secrets I found in the Mario stages. This was very fun and very tiring. I hope you enjoyed what I found. I know there’s a ton more stuff I missed. I do also have screenshots from the Mario spinoffs, like Donkey Kong, Yoshi, and Wario. So if people wanna see that too I can share them. But hey, for right now. I’m going to sleep. Let me know if you wanna see the spinoff stages or if I should share nicer quality pictures of the environments. That’s all for today. See ya later!

[prodgreys]

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[zeldauniverse]

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a game that you might have missed. Even if you didn’t skip over the Wii U console generation, it could have easily fallen to the wayside amongst more popular entries such as Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U before it or Splatoon or Super Mario Maker after it. In fact, Captain Toad’s whole existence owes itself to its “predecessor” Super Mario 3D World, which included the very concept of this game as miniature levels or sidequests within it. As a result, if you’ve played the Mario title, you already have a rough idea of what to expect from Captain Toad.

FULL DISCLOSURE Nintendo Australia has graciously provided us with a review copy of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Thankfully, Captain Toad offers a little bit more than the experience from the Mario game before it, though admittedly not a great deal more. It naturally had to include boss battles because now there’s a Mario-esque “story” behind it as Captain Toad and co-star Toadette collect Power Stars. It expanded upon its original mini-levels by having a shooter-on-rails mechanic as well as coin-collection levels. And it’s borrowed somewhat heavily from Super Mario 3D World by pulling in the Double Cherries, Dash Panels, Beep Blocks, and more. It’s as much an extension of Super Mario Galaxy as Super Mario Galaxy 2 was… except without the actual Mario jumping and fast platforming.

Captain Toad borrows heavily from Super Mario 3D World with the inclusion of power-ups and items.

Cute and charming puzzle-solving

Captain Toad is a perfect game for the Nintendo Switch. (Though really, what game isn’t?) Captain Toad is all about bite-sized content in tiny stages, and the portable nature of the Switch means you can jump in, play a few levels, and then get back to whatever you were doing.

And the game is a lot cuter than I originally expected. I admit I chuckle a bit whenever I see Captain Toad appear in the various Mario games, from Super Mario Galaxy and onward. Seeing the little cutscenes with the captain is actually cute and endearing, even though his high-pitched squeaks can get a bit old by the game’s end.

The nature of Captain Toad tends to be more pause-and-think rather than hurry-up-and-go.

Where Captain Toad veers distinctively from its Mario origins is the fact that this is more of a puzzle game than a platformer. The game does have platforming involved within it, but the nature of the game tends to be more pause-and-think rather than hurry-up-and-go. That’s par for the course because the level’s objective is usually in plain sight — similar to the one-screen levels found in Super Mario Maker. However, another part of this originates from the fact that you can’t see the entire level in a single glance. You need to rotate your view around as parts of the level will obscure other parts, especially the underground bits. Even then, there are a few secret areas that won’t even be revealed until you actually encounter them, leaving the huge potential for hidden treasures and coins everywhere.

The world will start off seeming so very simple…

…but a simple twist of the stage opens up so many more possibilities.

Despite the general pause-and-think strategy omnipresent in the game, Captain Toad does force you into quick thinking quite often. Enemies such as Goombas and Shy Guys, once they detect you, will give quick chase. And given the captain’s inability to jump, your standard mechanism for clearing out enemies is gone. To replace that, Captain Toad — in a throwback to the American Super Mario Bros. 2 — can hoist turnips out of the ground and chuck them at enemies. However, turnips are far and few between and generally only spawn once, so you either have to be accurate or fast on your feet! The mine cart levels also require quick thinking; while you never have to worry about enemies in these levels, the levels become coin ruins, and you have to shoot targets quickly to maximize your coin count and/or complete your secret missions.

The game itself is divided into multiple episodes — three in total with a set of post-game bonus levels beyond it. It’s important to remember this after you defeat the first 18 levels and arrive at the end credits; the game isn’t over yet! It’s in episodes two and three where you play as Toadette (and later as both characters) as you chase down Wingo, the game’s avian nemesis.

It’s not just about waddling around enemies. There’s also rail-shooter segments.

Is Captain Toad really worth the investment?

So it merits saying that Captain Toad isn’t your Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey. Unless you’re a hardcore completionist, it’s not going to offer you the hundreds of hours of gameplay that the other titles on Nintendo Switch have to offer. Thankfully it doesn’t have to be either of the two games thanks to its price point. In North America, the game is being sold at $40 as opposed to $60, while in Australia it’s being sold at A$60 instead of A$90. And given that the Switch is full of like-minded titles such as Shovel Knight, Golf Story, and countless more, it’s in good company.

Overall, Captain Toad is relatively easy, but 100%ing the game takes much more effort.

It’s reasonable to ask whether or not this game is for you. Captain Toad is like the Kirby series when it comes to difficulty: If you consider yourself decent at playing modern video games, then you should find navigating the 60-odd levels of the main quest a relative breeze. Some levels are more involved than others, and some of the later levels involve a few more timing challenges or tricky spots that require a little more finesse, but you won’t see too many Game Over screens despite the game not inundating you with 1-Up Mushrooms at every chance.

That said, the challenge of the game starts to rapidly increase once you consider all of the optional challenges the game throws at you in order to 100-percent the game. Each of the stages in the main quest has three diamonds in it that need collecting, and failing to collect a sufficient number of these will start locking you out of the game’s bonus content after the main story. Furthermore, each stage has two additional challenges. The first is a simple hide-and-seek game with a pixelated Toad hiding on one of the level’s walls; in the Wii U version of this game, this only could be accessed as amiibo-activated content, but now it’s built into the game itself. Secondly, and more deviously, each level has a bonus mission, and achieving these can actually be quite difficult. It’ll take solid persistence to crack each auxiliary mission in the game.

That said, if you already owned and played Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on the Wii U, it’s not worth getting the Switch version. With the exception of the hide-and-seek games no longer being locked behind amiibo, the only Switch-exclusive content is four additional bonus levels that are generally inspired by Super Mario Odyssey. These levels actually replace the Super Mario 3D World-themed bonus levels from the Wii U version, and as before you can’t play these levels until you go through the game’s storyline. Each of the four new levels is based upon one of the various kingdoms of Odyssey — namely the Cascade, Sand, Metro, and Luncheon Kingdoms. They’re cute fun, but it’s not much to merit a second purchase.

The adaptation from the Wii U to Switch is actually quite ingenious.

Boss battles are still fun and progressively more challenging.

An underappreciated but solid game

I didn’t play Captain Toad on the Wii U, and I had originally made the conscious choice to skip it for Nintendo Switch as well. Before playing it, I had a pretty good idea of what the game was, and, to a large extent, I was correct. I thoroughly enjoyed playing it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been a long time since I’ve made the effort to fully 100% any game I’ve owned. (I’ve got too much of a gaming backlog to spend time on that!) While I do appreciate the challenges in the game — and some of them were things to which I immediately said, “Challenge accepted!” — those challenges aren’t something that will drive me back to playing it over and over. But that’s just me; depending upon how you game, your mileage may vary.

But Captain Toad is still cute fun, and I think it’s actually a very good thing that Nintendo came and remade the game for the Nintendo Switch. It’s definitely a game I think didn’t get enough acclaim the first time around, so maybe its presence on Switch will give it a bit more luster.

Score Similarity to other Marios 8.5/10 Mario Vs. Donkey Kong – ★★★★☆ Super Mario 3D World – ★★★☆☆ Super Mario Bros. 2 – ★★☆☆☆ Super Mario Odyssey – ★☆☆☆☆

Review: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is worth playing if you like puzzles Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a game that you might have missed. Even if you didn't skip over the Wii U console generation, it could have easily fallen to the wayside amongst more popular entries such as…

[xanth-the-wizard]

hey so im running a Pokemon Tabletop United campaign with high fantasy elements. i am working on the next dungepn, but im stumped. its a space thened dungeon- not the stars and planets type of space, but the concept of 3d space and movement. can you give any ideas or tips for puzzles and room themes? the dungeon has water as a secondary motif.

Oh wow, I didn't realize there was as dedicated Pokemon tabletop system! That's really awesome, I grew up with the series and haven't stopped playing since Pokemon Ruby! I have an entire department in my brain dedicated to Pokemon (so if you have more specific Pokemon questions hit me up!)

Anyways, back to the question. Creating a dungeon that includes space (3D space) can honestly be kind of a tricky task. I was thinking about how I would apply it myself, and realized I've been thinking about dungeons in a very 2D format. So for me it's kind of hard to break out of that mindset without some sort of visual representation. But I do have a few ideas that you could work with, as well as some more suggestions below that!

1.) Create a dungeon that can be traversed on all planes. Floor, ceiling, and all the walls. Try to avoid making every room a square, in fact try to make something that is expansive, irregular, and has lots of different hidden tunnels and obstacles preventing the players from traveling up (or down) to different locations. Whether one plane is no longer connected or perhaps something must be activated to traverse on a different plane. Another way to approach this is to have the players traverse the dungeon normally before flipping it on it's side and presenting a whole new set of challenges.

2.) Constantly shifting dungeon. This one is pretty straightforward and has less difficulties when it comes to planning. For example, whenever players enter a new section of the dungeon, the entire thing shifts and now the room they were just in is completely different. If you do a 12 square system like I did (Image A) you could either roll a d6 to see which two numbers switch or perhaps numbering them 1-12 and then rolling a 2d12 to see which two numbers swap with each other. You could also have parts of the dungeon that don't move at all so there is more control.

(If you do attempt to use Image B's method, I'd recommend making your own. Mine doesn't really make sense, I just tried to make it look okay using MS Paint ^_^; )

3.) Play with Legos or a real 3D object and see what you can discover. Perhaps the dungeon needs to be built by the players to create a staircase up to the higher floors. Each new piece of Lego for example, could be a hallway that includes a combat encounter or a small puzzle that requires the party to literally piece stuff together like a puzzle! Maybe carrying blocks they discover to change the property or environment of the rooms they are in!Another approach is to have the dungeons exist on layers that are constantly shifting or shift every 5-10 minutes. Squares would work the best, but you could really mix it up if you want. Circles work well too, but they will be less likely to match up. And you could go the hard way and do what I did (Image B) and just make it as difficult as possible.

More suggestions I have is to create a villain or magical force (Giratina or perhaps a Psychic or Steel Pokemon that messes with gravity?) that is messing with positioning/gravity to stabilize the dungeon they must stop/defeat the source. And a way to incorporate more movement and space, include the water elements to put pressure on the party. Certain rooms become flooded or disappear forever. It can be really tense and be a really fun puzzle to try and escape/stop the water from flooding.

I would also recommend to inspire yourself more play/look up some video games! Legend of Zelda is a good series to look, Ocarina of Time has an infamous Water Dungeon that could give you some ideas. An interesting puzzle game you could look at is Monument Valley, it has a lot of strange puzzles that alter your perception and idea of space. That one is a relatively short game and could be beaten in a few hours. Also games like Super Mario Galaxy or perhaps taking some inspirations from the Distortion World from Pokemon Platinum.

Hopefully this can help guide you in the right direction. Feel free to send in another ask/message me if you want to toss around more ideas. I'd be happy to help! Also if any of my followers have any more ideas please share!