The return

So, I’m back home in San Francisco, staring blankly at my screen at work. I guess this means life is back to normal, more or less — and to welcome me back, a copy of Beggar Prince was sitting on my desk when I arrived this morning. I’m trying to decide how we should cover it, and I think I’m going to go with a standard 1UP review… mainly for the novelty of having a Genesis review on the front page of the site. Limber up your screencap muscles in preparation for that glorious day, folks. It’s going to be awesome. (In that sad little sense of the word “awesome” that means “Strictly of interest to a few lifeless geeks.”)

I’m really surprised by how much of a response there was to my off-handed dismissal of Circle of the Moon and Metroid Fusion yesterday. Mainly because it was so unnervingly civil. This is the Internet, folks. Where’s the flaming and hatred?

Oh, and I’m back to updating my 1UP Blog again after something of a hiatus. I think they’re gonna fire me if I don’t. Should I resume posting about why Mario games that aren’t New Super Mario Bros. were inventive and inspired, or have I worn that groove a little too deep at this point?

Edit: Now a full-length LocoRoco preview disc has landed on my desk as well. (Er, nope, just the E3 demo burned onto a UMD. Lame, Sony, really lame.) Man, I’ve been playing the Lite so much lately that the PSP screen seems unbearably dim. I’ll manage, though, this once; LocoRoco is totally worth it. What other game stars a planet as its protagonist?

No, SimEarth doesn’t count.

50 thoughts on “The return”

  1. Is the protaganist really a _planet_? Do they expound on that? Are there, for example, little people living on Our Hero … who presumably die horrible deaths as the planet violently bounces across a surreal, vibrant landscape?

    … or, wait, is it a main-character as in … because you tilt the planet, that’s your character. … and the little guy(s) the screen is centered on is(are) just side character(s).

  2. The only other game I can think of is the criminally unknown PC RPG Anachronox, which had a planet full of advanced aliens miniaturize itself and float around with you as a playable party member.

  3. The only other game I can think of is the criminally unknown PC RPG Anachronox, which had a planet full of advanced aliens miniaturize itself and float around with you as a playable party member.
    Much to the chagrin of your main character, if I recall.

  4. I always wanted to play Anachronox but there was the whole “PC only” issue. I guess I can correct that now. Someday. Eventually.

  5. …damnit, it ate the second half of my post (which was “Also, be sure to mention if Beggar Prince is any good, my time in the emulation scene will always have me think of it as ‘translated by dicks’ otherwise.”)

  6. That’s that boss battle in Wario Ware Touched! where you control a planet.

  7. I don’t 100% agree that New Super Mario Bros. was uninventive. I felt that for one thing it made better use of Mode 7 and up technology than Super Mario World ever did in changing up the gameplay.

  8. Man, Anachronox ruled hard. I think I’ll dig out my old copy and see what kind of tinkering it takes to get it running under XP.

  9. Ahem! To quote:

    “I’m really surprised by how much of a response there was to my off-handed dismissal of Circle of the Moon and Metroid Fusion yesterday. Mainly because it was so unnervingly civil. This is the Internet, folks. Where’s the flaming and hatred? ”

    You want FLAMING?

    “I just made a real loooong post at the end of your Metroidvania comment section today, and here you are with a new blog entry? Curse you, Parish! My rant shall be (completely) ignored!”
    …
    …
    …
    What? My phony anger not convincing enough? I *was* kinda disappointed, though. Slightly. *Kinda*. =P

  10. This is important: New Super Mario Bros. does not include Mode 7 technology. That is because it is not a Super NES game. And honestly, I’m stumped to think of much that’s Mode 7-like in the game — there’s certainly nothing that marries gameplay and technological gimmicks as creatively as Yoshi’s Island Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy stage. Or the battle with Raphael Raven on the moon.

  12. I wouldn’t mind more of the Mario stuff, though you really make NSMB sound bad when you phrase it like that. ;P I don’t think the game was meant to be particularly inventive, just to get back to square one and just be fun for new and old players alike.
    –
    And I’m cool with that, versus a Super Mario Sunshine DS. Unless they can work out what made the original so dull there, I’d rather stick to tried and true for the moment, and see where they take the series from here.
    –
    LBD “Nytetrayn”

  13. Shivan> I’ve seen compelling arguments that actually work against flight… and besides, you can still jack Lakitu’s cloud, that’s more or less like flying…
    –
    LBD “Nytetrayn”

  14. Loco Roco is like a nun crapping pure magic into my tear ducts. Thats a good thing. I love the demo, love it love it. If I were to ever be involved in creating a game, LR is the type of game I’d want to make.

  15. Actually by Mode 7 I meant the usage of graphical tricks used to make the environment do funky things, for instance in the Toadstool levels. And of course I was simply comparing to Super Mario World 1, not Yoshi’s Island, which we can all agree is in a class of its own. Maybe I should’ve known better than to make Mode 7 a catch-all term for advanced raster graphic techniques (and even then, New SMB is largely polygon based).

  17. Althoguh someone already said that. This is what happens when you assume nobody’s commented on the edit: when you read the message earlier in the day.

    Too bad Eidos killed the franchise.

  18. Fair enough, but I don’t see why NSMB wouldn’t have to stand up to Yoshi’s Island — or in fact any platformer released since Super Mario Land 2. Game design, even in that stagnant genre, has marched forward in the past 15 years, while NSMB is a step backward in many ways. I’m really annoyed by all the people who seem to think the game should get a free pass simply because it’s Mario. But at least now I can laugh at other people when they tell me I’m too addled by nostalgia.

  19. I approve of how that Beggar Prince site has the big “BEGGAR PRINCE” title screen and beside that, a screencap of someone saying, “Get out of my sight, beggar!” That made my night, and I really can’t explain why.

  20. There’s a lot of things Mario platformers did really well that Yoshi’s first platformer didn’t really attempt. Yoshi’s Island was in many ways a complete left turn- and as such there hasn’t been a true mario platformer, improved or not, since the launch of the super nintendo. You’ve SMB, SMB2J, SMB3, SML, SML2:6GC, SMW, and then a huge gap and then NSMB.

    Yoshi’s Island was an amazing game but it wasn’t a step straight forward, it was quite diagonal.

  21. I personally saw the regular Super Mario and Yoshi’s Island games as 2 separate entities. Though yeah, the awesome breadth of powerups and items from Mario 3 plus the level of ingenuity found in Yoshi’s Island would’ve made New SMB even better. What it had going on with some of the level designs was pretty great.

    One upside to there not being any flying powerups was that all of your platform landings had to be right on the dot, with no safety cushion from floating. The cape from Super Mario World could be especially cheap when comboed with the spin jump.

  22. The “people giving NSMB a free pass because it’s Mario” thing reminds me of that Dragon Quest VIII article on Gaming 101; namely, the bit about how people are rather selectively nostalgic, and gaming aspects that are referred to as dated and tedious in some games are heralded as classic gaming in another.
    I think it’s a standard rule that any game that’s part of a series is expected to adhere to the rules set by previous games in the series. Part of the title’s appeal is that it’s already recognized by people who have played the previous games, so as such, it’s expected (and often encouraged) to keep the same recognized style as the original. By contrast, newly introduced games, even if they are obviously based on the mechanics of a different game, are expected to bring something new to the table in order to compete with previously established games of that archtype. So, unfortunately, there’s actually some logic to the idea that something that would be discouraged in one game would be acceptable to another simply because of the name attached to it.
    I think the best method to set a standard for one series and stick to it, so that you may save your efforts for focusing on a new series whenever you come up with a new idea. (See: Capcom)

  23. Not that I’m saying that NSMB or DQ8 are tedious, mind you. I haven’t had enough experience with either to give a firm opinion.

  24. Let’s not getting into the hair-splitting over whether or not Yoshi’s Island was a “true” Mario game (never mind that it said “Super Mario World 2” right there on the box!) — the point I was trying to get across is that the 2D platformer has evolved quite a bit since the last time Mario starred in one, and NSMB (fun as it may be) ignores most of that progress. It’s regressive not just as a Mario game but as a platformer, and just because it reminds everyone of their favorite NES game doesn’t mean it’s automatically above criticism. If anything, I think it’s even more of a letdown considering how much more imaginative and daring Mario games have traditionally been compared to the competition.

  25. Which, again, is also the same kind of feeling I got after finishing Super Mario World, which followed the perfection of Super Mario Bros. 3. So, yeah, feeling’s mutual, even if I’m basically repeating myself now.

    I think the reason many of us differentiate between YI and the other 2d Mario games is because of the different core game mechanics (Mario with the brick-bashing, fire shooting, etc. and YI with the egg throwing and so on).

  26. jparish: “I’m really surprised by how much of a response there was to my off-handed dismissal of Circle of the Moon and Metroid Fusion yesterday. Mainly because it was so unnervingly civil. This is the Internet, folks. Where’s the flaming and hatred?”
    = I’m guessing this close after E3 all of the flaming and hatred were on other websites. There was just none left for here. All that was left for here was “unnervingly civil” discourse. I also hate it when people don’t act as awful as I expect them too (it offends the cynic and the nihilist in me). Dammit humanity! You can’t even make me lose faith in you correctly!

    Sabin XIII: “Not that I’m saying that NSMB or DQ8 are tedious, mind you. I haven’t had enough experience with either to give a firm opinion.”
    = I also haven’t played either of those games. Although I have played DQ7 and I do say it’s &@!*ing tedious. From what I’ve heard of DQ8 it sounds tedious. Enix, haven’t you learned anything from Square? Square games may be derivative and lack innovation but the basic games usually aren’t tedious (but the extra stuff is often very tedious).

  27. The problem with NSMB is that it went too oldschool. It was much more like SMB1 than SMB3 or SMW, hence the lack of flight, myriad power-ups, and so forth. I’m surprised they even let you scroll the screen backwards.

  28. Dragon Quest 8 was good, and I’ve never played any DQ before it. Also it’s clear you must resume the Mario moment thing JP because Super Mario World was also great and people need to recognize. So many priceless moments to consider! There was dolphin riding for crying out loud! Would you believe the line of koopas in Yoshi’s Island 2 actually killed me the first time I played the game. The scene after Mario beats Roy’s castle was the first time I laughed at a video game. There’s one level in Choco Island that I cannot comprehend because it’s so random. I’m sure there were better moments that don’t exactly come to my mind at this point so do it if you could.

  29. I’m really surprised how few people are disappointed at the lame power-ups in NSMB. Okay, so I can’t fly now… what do I get instead?
    .
    A new mega mushroom that’s more or less just as functional as the star, albeit more amusing. Oh, but it totally screws up my ability to explore some levels. LAME.
    .
    And there’s a new shell suit that lets me hurtle myself around as if I was one of those turtle shells… but more often than not I’ll be flinging myself off a cliff. LAME.
    .
    Oh, and then there’s the mushroom that makes you smaller, effectively making you suck MORE, and its only real use is to get to secret areas created specifically for people using the damn thing. LAME.
    .
    Seriously, every Mario game from SMB3 and on had better power-ups (okay, not including Sunshine), and with this title wanting so bad to be like SMB3, the fact that it pales in comparison to SMB3 so badly in this area is quite a let-down.

  30. I like NSMB but I noticed I couldn’t play it for a lengthy period of time mostly due to the fact that you couldn’t earn the save anywhere feature until you beat the game. I mean, you have to EARN the save anywhere feature? What a load. Especially for a game that’s designed to be played on the go. I have to actually sit down and play for a session and blitz my way through the game as fast I could just so I could save and enjoy the game at my own leisure. If I wanted to “speed run” through the game I would have done so. Well, I guess you could use Star Coins as a cheap way of saving anywhere but the point still stands.

  33. **I approve of how that Beggar Prince site has the big “BEGGAR PRINCE” title screen and beside that, a screencap of someone saying, “Get out of my sight, beggar!”**

    Phew. I felt gulity about making fun of the dialogue in an “indy” game, but now that someone brought it up, I hope the review will include some info about whether the dialogue is “Resident Evil” bad, or just bad bad.

    Speaking of which, I wonder if a “What’s up, Tiger Lily?” style fake dub of a classic game would work, or just end up becoming tedious.

  34. kmt3: Doesn’t mini Mario tie with the water pack from Sunshine for worst idea in the Mario franchise?

  35. No, because the water pack could douse enemies and clean things up whereas the little blue mushroom just turned Mario into Simon Belmont. A one hit Simon Belmont, with no whip. Now that’s just lame.

  36. A platformer is a damn platformer. Innovation doesn’t apply. Welcome to generation “play, have fun and don’t give a shit about things you never gave a shit about”. It’s awesome people think NSMB is a great game just because it’s fun and what it does it does great. I know, I know, when one walks amongst the honey something just might stick to them.

  37. Mini Mario dies in one hit? So does small Mario. The only thing is that you need to make sure you buttstomp enemies or you may get hurt (they should have just made it so enemies don’t respond to the attack–some normal enemies react that way).

    Mini mario can walk on water, get crazy air after a long jump, and is fun and challenging to play as. I have no problem with him.

    Giant Mario is just a gimmick that isn’t really utilized too well.

    Blue turtle shell sucks.
    **
    “Let’s not getting into the hair-splitting over whether or not Yoshi’s Island was a “true” Mario game (never mind that it said ‘Super Mario World 2’ right there on the box!)”

    How about Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3? FWIW, the Super Mario Advance 3 version of YI dropped the SMW2 subtitle.
    **
    “The ‘people giving NSMB a free pass because it’s Mario’ thing reminds me of that Dragon Quest VIII article on Gaming 101; namely, the bit about how people are rather selectively nostalgic, and gaming aspects that are referred to as dated and tedious in some games are heralded as classic gaming in another.”
    NSMB is an immensely playable and fun game regardless of the star.
    However, most turn-based RPGs *are* dated and tedious because they haven’t changed at all, and are barely playable anyway (mash the button, watch/listen to dialogue; mash the button, watch/listen to dialogue).

  38. I’ve been careful not to criticize NSMB’s lack of innovation — it’s the lack of originality that bothers me. They’re not the same thing. It’s fine if Nintendo would prefer to coast on Mario’s reputation, but it’s missing the sense of daring that separates a good game from a great one.

  39. The mini mushroom is the replacement for flying. Just getting the stupid thing over and over for the areas that require it but don’t provide one (Like, seven or so areas, irritatingly enough), I figured out how to stay above the screen for half of level 1-4.

    Apparently, I’m the only person who actually liked the shell. Sure, it’s not exactly useful, but I always took it as a personal challenge to launch myself through the entire level without letting go of the dash button (try 1-2, for instance), and hey, it can kill boos! The problem was that a) there wasn’t a single level that was actually designed for the thing, and b) it was nearly impossible to use against most of the bosses.

    Yeah, the mega mushroom was just a goofy gimmick. I was hoping that it would’ve been used like a regular powerup in a lot of ways, though I did have to use it to get one of the star coins (rather than swimming up a hostile corridor, slipping past the water striders, and then highjumping off of one of them all while not being able to run and within a strict time limit).

    Now, what I really didn’t like was, as Parish pointed out in his review, the new monsters. The only one that was actually kinda cool was the ghost with the boxing gloves, but even that was just a new graphic for the big koopa with the football helmet in SMW.

  40. “Waaaaahhh! Waaaahhhh! I can’t save!”

    Close your DS. Sleep mode. Mario even breaks the fourth wall.

  41. So, am I the only one that just had FUN when I played NSMB? I don’t think about Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario Bros. 3, or any of that. I just stomp of goombas and koopas, toss some mean fireballs, and wreck shop as Giant Mario.

  42. Me, I had a lot of fun with NSMB… right up until the point the Internet got all whiny because an 8 wasn’t the score they had determined the game deserved long before they had ever played it.

  43. I had fun, Raroo. I don’t care about all that either. Also, everyone knows that an 8 is Jeremy’s 10.

  45. All I know is my brother – who hasn’t played games in at least 10 years – won’t give me back my DS.

  47. I’m not sure if THE INTERNET! is mad because you gave it an 8, or because you give it an 8 due to its lack of innovation. Ultimately, the average gamer isn’t especially concerned with innovation (especially, as I said, where established series are concerned), and reviews are made to help the average gamer make purchasing decisions.
    This just further encourages the idea of removing number ratings altogether and just have reviews say what features the game has (or lacks), and let the reader decide whether these features matter enough for them to get it or not.

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